LITTLE VALLEY — The Cattaraugus County Fairgrounds will be buzzing with activity July 11 and 12 as knife dealers and collectors across North America and around the globe gather to educate, appraise, buy and sell some of the rarest knives in the world at the second annual Village of Knives Celebration.

The two-day event celebrating Little Valley’s heritage in the knife industry will take place in both corporate buildings from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is $1, and children 12 and younger are free.

Over 200 vendors are expected to participate, offering a range of services, including knife sharpening, handmade products and food and beverages. With kids in mind, there will be activities including first aid lessons and fun facts about knives. Wagon rides and personal tours to Little Valley’s famous cutlery factory locations will be available.

Case cousins John Burrell and Brad Lockwood co-founded the Village of Knives event that has become an annual attraction to custom knife makers, collectors and enthusiasts from all over the world. They said this year’s show will be double in size compared to last year’s inaugural event.

The highlight of this year’s show will be a fierce competition between professional bladesmiths who will battle it out to see whose custom-made knife can stand up to the challenges.

“The contestants will chop rope, wood, a golf ball in half, cut paper and other items,” Lockwood said. “In the process, they are going to destroy some beautiful blades to become the champion.”

Last year’s event featured the History Channel’s December 2020 “Forged in Fire” champion Walter Baranowski. He worked with Burrell, an experienced bladesmith and former owner of Burrell Cutlery, to make the first knives in Little Valley in 61 years onsite and in real-time. The champion is back this year as one of several judges for the competitions.

According to Lockwood, the Champlin family is donating the Army-Navy “E” Award flag received by the Cattaraugus Cutlery for excellence in production during World War II to the show. He said the award flag will be on display at the Little Valley American Legion afterward.

Lockwood said Mark Zalesky, editor and owner of Knife Magazine, and Case Cutlery representatives from Bradford, Pa., will be joining them for some archeological metal detecting around Little Valley before the show. They will be searching to see what’s in the ground and the creeks behind the old cutleries before the show and will have whatever they find on display.

A display of Burrell’s Top Flight Early American Cutlery is shown at his booth at last year’s event. His knives were just one example of the fine craftsmanship on display in both corporate buildings at the fairgrounds.

Deb Everts

THIS EVENT WAS 150 years in the making, dating back to when the cutlery industry first appeared in the village, culminating in more than 60 companies within a 50-mile radius, known as the “Magic Circle.”

Champlin, Brown, Burrell, Crandall, Platts and Case are all legendary surnames in the industry, and all related by blood. From these interrelated families, brands like Ka-Bar, W.R. Case & Sons, Cutco, Kinfolks, Case Brothers, Platts and Western would make their mark on American knife-making. Over 30 different cutlery companies sprang out of the Case family alone.

“At the turn of the last century, Little Valley made more knives in one year than England and Germany put together,” said Burrell, who is Ellicottville’s mayor and the last Case-family knife-maker. “It has a huge place in the history of knife making in the United States.”

Lockwood, author of “Tested XX: The Case Cutlery Dynasty,” documented his Case family’s history for the process required for a historical marker for the Case Brothers Cutlery Company (circa 1898) in Little Valley through the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.

“This small town in western New York holds a significant place in American history, with many of the knives made in Little Valley highly collectible today,” Burrell said. “Check your attics and closets because you might have a valuable piece of history.”

Burrell said he has seen Little Valley knives sell for as much as $12,000. He said the knife made at last year’s event sold at auction for $5,250.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Little Valley, including its library, fire department and beautification efforts.

Sponsors include W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery in Bradford, Little Valley Volunteer Fire Department, Hughes Hotel, Ellicottville Brewing Company, Knife Magazine, Cattaraugus County Fair, Top Flight Early American Cutlery, Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce, Holiday Valley and the American Museum of Cutlery.

Burrell said W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery in Bradford, which started in Little Valley in 1904, made 150 commemorative knives for this year’s event.

Both Burrell and Lockwood hope the kids in attendance will become Junior Knife Ambassadors.

“It’s a great event for grandparents to bring their grandkids where they can see some remarkable things they will probably never see again and have a good time,” Lockwood said. “We really want to focus on kids because, if knife collecting is going to be carried on, we need younger people.”

The public is invited to a Pig Roast at the Little Valley American Legion Post 531 Friday night from 6 to 9 p.m. that will include live music and awards.

More information and a self-guided virtual Walking Tour are available at villageofknives.com.