Artists, art-lovers, carvers and more will descend upon Washington this weekend. They come from all over North Carolina, neighboring states and farther afield, but they share one thing in common: a love of wildlife and its representative through the swipe of paintbrush, the click of a camera shutter or the slice of a carver’s knife.

The 21^st annual East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival begins Friday at the Washington Civic Center and will run through Sunday afternoon. It will feature the NC Decoy Carving Championship, a waterfowl-calling competition, retriever demonstrations, an outdoor market and a dinner and auction, but what sets it apart is the art and artists.

“This show differs from quite a few of the shows held in eastern North Carolina for the simple fact it’s not just a carving show; it’s not just about the decoys,” said Lynn Wingate, director of Washington Tourism Development Authority and organizer of the festival. “Having the other artistic element is attractive to a wide audience.”

Many of the vendors at this weekend’s Wildlife Festival are at the top of their game: two of the top five winners of last week’s North Carolina Duck Stamp Competition, a national painting contest, are vendors at this year’s show, as are former winners Rob Leslie and Guy Crittenden, and the 2014 winner of both the Pennsylvania and Nevada duck stamp competitions, Jocelyn Beatty, Wingate said.

“That’s pretty impressive to have people who have won the duck stamp competition, to be exhibitors,” Wingate said. “We have renowned artists that are here for our show.”

Historically, during Wildlife Festival weekend, the civic center is crowded with artists like Mark Cunningham, who paints fun, beachy signs, and collectors like David O’Neal, who owns a shop specializing in antique decoys on Ocracoke.

“These are people who know the history of our waterfowl heritage,” Wingate said. “Not only do they know the value of the tools and the decoys that are used in the trade, they are also collectors and artists themselves. … Mark Cunningham does the wooden fish and crabs, you’ve seen them, we all have them — the hand painted signs. He sells those for about $30 a piece and every third person you see walking out of the show has a piece of his work,” Wingate said. “That, to me, is part of the beauty of the show. You have such a variety.”

East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival opens Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Washington Civic Center and the First South Bank Sportsman’s Tent located in the civic center parking lot.