About the N.C. Gourd Society

The North Carolina Gourd Society (formerly the Gourd Village Garden Club) first met in Cary in 1937. The oldest chapter (“alpha chapter”) of the American Gourd Society, it is among the oldest garden clubs in North Carolina. Early festivals were held in the school cannery, a dry cleaners and a furniture store. Over the years festivals have featured dolls, a gourmet gourd buffet, hard-working, practical gourds, Mother Goose gourds and many others.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in North Carolina dedicated to the culture and heritage of gourds in America. We hold an annual festival in November at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.

Our officers and contact information is here.

Our current by-laws are here.

We hope you will join us! Membership details are here.

Affiliated patches around the state are listed here.

Our quarterly meetings and other events are listed here.

NCGS in the News

The gourd festival was featured on the local PBS affiliate program “North Carolina Weekend”. Click the button to see the video!

There are several photographs from the early days of the North Carolina Gourd Society on pages 45 and 46 in the book Images of America: Cary by Sherry Monahan (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2011).