By Kenneth Gutierrez/reporter
Showcasing the best of Texas and the world’s talent in art, crafts, live entertainment, street performers and film, Main Street Arts Festival filled downtown Fort Worth last weekend for its 22nd year.
The displays and activities ranged from traditional to extraordinary, all in the confines of Main Street in the heart of Sundance Square.
Andover, Maysville, Gibson, Millbrook, Carmel, Smithville, Antioch, Valley Village, Omaha, Paton … “I’ve been everywhere,” the song says. However, instead of a Johnny Cash song, it is a list of places the artists and exhibitors call home. But not to be forgotten are the exhibits from Canada and Germany.
The four-day festival had it all from chances of rain, to sun, to a windy Saturday night that blew in like the artists from the four corners of the country.
This once small three-day event originated in 1984 from a few business and civic leaders to an arts festival ranked nationally in the top eight and entertaining close to one million free of charge.
The very present smell of turkey legs and roasted corn filled the air as onlookers filled Main Street with busy chatter and amazement. The festival had something for everyone: free pictures from WaMu, free healthy food snacks from impossiblygood.com, free cozies for adults and 6-foot gecko sightings for the kids.
Visitors could open a free checking account, register to win a chopper, take a chance at winning free gas all while eating a funnel cake and enjoying some of the best art Texas and the world has to offer.
Of course, art is one of the main draws, and this year’s festival did not disappoint in variety of styles, media and tastes. Painting prices ranged from small budget affordable to high thousands, and ceramics offered flower vases fit for the wife and some fit for a queen.
Mixed among the art were handmade jewelry, photographs, characters made from spark plugs and a variety of other wearable or decorative items.
This attention to the arts was not limited to the canvas or the oven but extended to big screen. Fort Worth’s Central Library played host to the first Fearless Film Festival showcasing the best in experimental, animation, foreign and narrative films. The event also included winning entries from the Teen Video Fest ’07.
Not to be forgotten or out done, the Chisholm Trail Cowboys, Yo Yo People and the Musical Saw, all street performers, set the mood for the larger live entertainment acts of Mavis Staples, the Derailers, Latin
Breed and Asleep at the Wheel.
