The countdown to Market Street Festival has officially begun, with organizers and vendors preparing for the event to return downtown on May 3.
Market Street Festival Coordinator Amber Brislin said the festival will last all day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. While the event will be condensed into a smaller footprint, Brislin said it will still include everything fans have come to expect, including 157 arts and crafts vendors from all across the country, 24 food vendors and two music stages.
“We are putting all of our efforts into that one-day event this year,” Brislin said. “We’ve made some very exciting changes and improvements that we feel benefit festival-goers, arts and crafts vendors, food vendors and the whole downtown area.”
Main Street Columbus Executive Director Barbara Bigelow said the festival will run from the corner of Fifth and Main Streets to Third Avenue South, so organizers can utilize every inch of space that is blocked off to traffic while also keeping Main Street and its businesses open and accessible throughout the day.
“I think this will be a great change,” Bigelow said. “The merchants on Main Street and even Fifth Street North are excited about the change. And it will just make it so much more walkable, that’s the biggest thing. It will make it easier for people, especially families.”
Bigelow told The Dispatch in January that the change would result in only a loss of about 15 to 20 vendor spaces during the festival.
Brislin told The Dispatch on Thursday that the condensed area has simply made organizers more selective about the quality of goods, but vendors will still be selling all kinds of arts and crafts, including mixed media, ceramics, paintings, handmade jewelry and “everything you can think of.”
“I would be surprised if someone came and did not find something they … enjoy,” Brislin said.
Throughout the festival, musical acts will take to the Main Stage, which will now be located on Fifth Street South, and a second stage at Leadership Plaza. Main Stage acts will include The HepCats, the Dawn Barham Band, Jennifer Jeffries, Brayden Sansing and The Mojo.
Leadership Plaza acts will include Jessica Horton, Honeyboy & Boots, Catfish Alley Studio Students, Suzuki Strings and Bill Cooke.
In terms of children’s activities, Brislin said the festival will include all of the normal activities like bouncy houses, along with the return of mechanical swings, bungee trampolines and pony rides. Bigelow said stilt walkers will also be traversing the crowd throughout the day, juggling and hula hooping as a new addition to the festival.
“We’re very proud that over the years, it’s truly become a family friendly festival,” Brislin said. “It always has been, but now, it’s even more so.”
Bigelow said the festival typically attracts between 20,000 to 30,000 attendees, and she is expecting a similar number again this year.
The festival will also include its annual car show, which Bigelow said will still be open for applications through May 2. T-shirts and posters are also available at the Main Street Columbus office in advance of the event, she said.
Parking lot and street closures will also be affected by the relocation. Beginning at 6 a.m. May 2, the city parking lot between College Street and Third Avenue South will be closed, along with Fourth Street between College Street and Main Street.
Other street closures will begin at 3 p.m. May 2, including Fifth Street South from Main Street to Third Avenue South, College Street from Third Street South to Seventh Street South, Sixth Street South from Main Street to Third Avenue South, Fourth Street South from Main Street to Third Avenue South and Third Avenue South from Fourth Street South to Sixth Street South.
Coming back to Market Street
Brislin encouraged attendees to glance at a map before they come out to the festival this year, if they are hoping to find a specific vendor attending, since they may not be located in the same place with the shift in the footprint.
Karl Compton of Dragon Flight Pottery said he has been coming to the festival as a vendor for the past four years, and he is planning on attending again this year. He creates a variety of pottery influenced by classical Japanese and Korean pottery with a “boatload of whimsy on top.”
Right now, Compton said, he is busy in his studio in Collinsville, preparing for the Market Street Festival crowds, which he always enjoys.
“It’s a fun little show,” Compton said. “… There’s always a nice crowd of friendly people that really like my pots.”
Daniel Westlake of Ascot Drifting said he has been vending at Market Street Festival for the past five years, and he is planning to return with his handmade training skateboards and in-line skate hybrids – along with offering some lessons on how to ride them to young festival attendees.
While his business is based out of Destin, Florida, Westlake has started making the long drive to the festival every year, as it helps to fill the gap between the spring break and summer seasons. He also always enjoys the Market Street crowd, he said.
“It has a small town feel,” Westlake said. “The people are very genuine, very kind. Customers are easy to work with.
A full map of the festival and musical lineup are available at marketstreetfestival.com.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
