The final numbers won”t be in until next week, but the thousands of people cramming downtown Columbus this weekend, and the hundreds of vendors catering to them, have deemed Market Street 2010 an unofficial success.
Starting with the weather — warm and breezy — and continuing with the food, the music and the activities, Market Street kept feet moving and faces smiling.
Amber Murphree-Brislin, director of Columbus Main Street Association, said each of the 245 vendor spots available for arts and crafts or food were full. In fact, Main Street had to tell some vendors they couldn”t come because the roster filled so quickly.
“Seventy-five percent of our vendors are repeat vendors. They”re successful here, therefore they want to come back,” said Murphree-Brislin.
However, despite a large crowd which filled parking spots as far away as 10th Street, not all vendors were experiencing record sales. Brian Hadad, general manager of the Columbus Papa John”s Pizza said a better location helped business to eclipse last year”s sales, but a few spots down, Steve Blaylock, pastor of First Pentecostal Church in Columbus, and the Little Porky”s Barbecue crew saw a slowdown.
“As far as the festival itself, it”s better. But we probably made more money (in past years),” said Blaylock.
The festival”s organizers, which include more than 400 volunteers, certainly want vendors to make money, but the overall quality of the festival was the priority. Murphree-Brislin believes the Market Street crew met that objective nicely.
“There”s something for everyone. There are new children”s games and activities. There are four stages for music with 20 acts. There are vendors from 19 states,” she said.
And that”s before mentioning the team effort put forth by city government, the Columbus Police Department and the Public Works department to shut down 12 city blocks for two days and keep everything running smooth and looking clean.
Festival-goers, by the way, noticed how clean the streets were.
Laura Hrusovsky, wife of Severstal Chief Executive Officer Jim Hrusovsky, has been in Columbus just nine months and was attending her first Market Street.
“It”s fantastic,” she said of the festival. “I love the activities for the little kids. It”s clean. I”m impressed by that. I give it a 10 out of 10.”
David Cote, of Leesville, La., is another transplant who came to Columbus courtesy of the Air Force. He was impressed as he wandered Market Street with his daughter, Caroline, 3, and his son, Luke, 6.
“It”s bigger than I thought it would be. Good atmosphere and good food,” said Cote.
He also gave a shout out to the vendors, the heart of Market Street.
This year, Market Street hosted 212 crafts vendors. Amanda Delaughter, of Pelahatchie, served up textured paintings for the third consecutive year at her Covered With Paint booth. Mary Williams, of Jackson, had also covered everything in her This and That booth with paint. Williams salvages junk items such as chairs and platters and paints them with Southern themes, including lots of chickens.
“People just like ”em (chickens). So I do, too,” she says.
Williams says business hasn”t been any better or worse this year than in the past.
“When you sell something for $5, how can it be bad?” she remarked.
Kyle Bellinger and Emily Woods, formerly of Columbus, were selling homemade candles at their first Market Street Festival during their last day living in Columbus.
Bellinger graduated from Mississippi University for Women on Saturday, but skipped graduation to sell candles made in old beer and wine bottles.
“I”m graduating at this moment from The W,” he said. “I”m focusing on the future more than the past.”
Bellinger, a theatrical electrician, and Woods, an actress, planned to move to West Virginia today and would use the money made at Market Street to help finance the move.
Luckily they said business was good.
Business was also good for the establishments lining Fifth Street and Main Street. Despite sacrificing their parking, Dustin “Worm” Nichols, bartender at Fuggetaboutit, said walk-in business had been great.
Giving the entire city a boost is the aim of Market Street and the Main Street Association. Columbus Main Street has been so successful in its year-round efforts it was recently awarded one of four nationwide Great American Main Street awards by the National Trust of Historic Preservation.
Recipients are chosen based on efforts to improve commerce, downtown revitalization, encourage tourism, create jobs, recruit investors and more.
Market Street vendors also recognized Main Street”s planning acumen. Murphree-Brislin said the planning committee”s maps were so thorough one vendor asked if the group had military experience.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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