With the 29th Market Street Festival coming May 3, organizers have announced the event is moving back toward its roots, allowing Main Street to remain open to traffic during the event.

It will also be condensed to one day, eliminating Friday night’s concert and festivities.

Market Street Festival Coordinator Amber Brislin told The Dispatch on Tuesday the festival will move back this year toward its original location on the south side of downtown, filling the area from the corner of Fifth and Main streets to Third Avenue South.

“Our goal … is to constantly improve Market Street Festival and to enhance the overall festival experience,” Brislin said in an email. “We work tirelessly each year to accommodate participants, attendees, vendors, volunteers, downtown businesses, and to best serve our community. We are excited about the (29th annual Market Street Festival) as planning efforts are well underway!”

Main Street Columbus Executive Director Barbara Bigelow said the shift will allow the festival to move forward with the same offerings condensed into a smaller physical footprint, with less empty space between attractions. The festival will still include all of the same elements attendees have come to expect, she said, including food vendors, children’s activities, a car show and of course, art vendors.

Bigelow said the change will only result in the loss of about 15 to 20 vendor spaces during the festival, out of the more than 200 vendors that typically come. Brislin said the result will be a festival that is slightly more selective with its vendor quality.

But by condensing the footprint of the festival, Brislin said, the event will become more walkable, particularly for families with small children attending the event.

“Over the years, Market Street Festival has evolved into truly a family friendly event,” Brislin said. “It’s always been geared to be a family friendly event, but we’ve finally achieved that. … With that said, we want to make the festival more of a walkable festival for families.”

By not holding a Friday night concert, Bigelow said, road closures for the festival’s set up can begin slightly later in the day than usual, though there will still be road closures in impacted areas Friday as vendors and other festival equipment come into the area.

“We want to put all our efforts into making Saturday really fantastic,” Bigelow said. “Not that it’s not already, but we want to put all of our efforts and our volunteers’ efforts into Saturday to make that even better.”

Bigelow said leaving Main Street open during the festival will also mean drivers can go through downtown without having to take significant detours. There will also be advantages for Main Street businesses, she said, as those merchants will no longer have their stores blocked by the festival.

“Our downtown shines during the Market Street Festival,” Bigelow said. “I am so excited that this year there will be easier access to our store owners located on Main Street. Attendees will also be able to enjoy a more improved, pedestrian-friendly festival experience. I am always grateful to everyone who works with us to make Market Street Festival a foremost event for our community and in the state.”

Main Street Columbus has already coordinated the change with the Columbus Police Department, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and the mayor’s office, Bigelow said, to ensure the change will not be a risk to public safety. Drivers will be required to slow down on Main Street during the festival, she said.

The new footprint of the festival will also relocate its stages. Bigelow said the festival will still include two music stages, including one at the end of Fifth Street South and another at Leadership Plaza on College Street. The food court will also be relocated to the parking lot caddy corner from Leadership Plaza, Bigelow said, off of College and Third streets.

“The first year of Market Street, the stage was at the end of Market Street, and that’s where we’re putting it again,” Bigelow said.

Fifth Street was originally named Market Street until the streets were numbered between 1890 and 1895. The festival draws its name from the old street name.

Bigelow and Brislin said as the festival is moving to its new footprint, it will also be rearranged into sections, where vendors selling similar products will be grouped together for buyers’ convenience. For example, fine arts vendors may be grouped together into one section.

Vendors interested in selling arts and crafts at the festival are required to submit an application by March 31, while food vendors must submit applications by March 31, Bigelow said.