Labor Day Arts Festival
Rain did not keep loyal art patrons from enjoying the 43rd Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival. Presented by the City of Upper Arlington’s Cultural Arts Division and Farmers Citizens Bank, Central Ohio’s premier one-day blind-juried arts festival showcasing nearly 200 fine art and fine craft artists from all over the country in a free alfresco interactive art space was held Monday, September 7 in Northam Park from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
The Labor Day Arts Festival patrons are loyal to the arts and came out in numbers, prepared with umbrellas and an optimistic outlook; they patronized their favorite artists and discovered new ones. This year’s festival drew a crowd of approximately 15,000 people throughout the day. The light rain cleared mid morning to welcome the crowd and artists reported good sales, as did our food vendors. Festival artists complimented the crowd at the festival, commenting that patrons are “friendly people”, “consistent”, “art-savvy”, and a “good crowd of folks-know art and like spending the day at the arts festival.” Many visitors stated the Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival is their favorite Central Ohio arts festival because of the high-quality of fine art and craft and the diversity of artists and entertainment. One first time festival-goer said “even the rain didn’t affect our enjoyment!”
Accessibility to the Labor Day Arts Festival was assisted by Pedal Instead, a free valet bicycle parking service in the southeast area of the festival and Clipper Transportation’s shuttle service to and from the festival and the parking lot in the Kingsdale Shopping Center. This free festival also reserved the parking lot adjacent to the Upper Arlington Public Library on Tremont Road for handicap and permit parking.
Musical performances at the Main Performance Stage set an enjoyable tone for the Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival with Sweet and Lonesome starting off the day with light hearted folk and bluegrass melodies, then Bum Wealthy got the crowd energized in the afternoon with their funky, blues and reggae grooves and fo/mo/deep cooled off the afternoon heat and closed out the festival with their soulful, funky jazz jams. The Arts Activity Stage kept crowds entertained, and active with audience participation.
The hands-on Arts Activities Area continued to be a popular space for kids and families. Patrons created pieces of art for donation as well as items to take home. Some of the highlights of this area were the Book Treasure Boxes with artist Juliann Breeding, using books donated by Friends of the Library, drum-making and a drumming circle with musicians Hakan Kaya and Baba Jubal, puff-paint t-shirts with artist Vada Mitchell and Eric Marlow’s art and paper jewelry created from recycled materials.
Next years Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival will take place on Monday, September 6, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Northam Park in Upper Arlington. To learn more about the Festival visit the Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival Web section at http://www.ua-ohio.net, or call the Cultural Arts Division at 583-5310.
