The Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts is this weekend on Fourth St. between Grant St. and Indiana Avenue. It’s the festival’s 50th anniversary.
The volunteer run festival is hosting 126 juried artists with mediums including painting, ceramics, jewelry, and glass making. Live music and poetry reading will be at two stages all day. Community booths for local arts organizations will also be present.
The Lotus Education and Arts Foundation will host a tent specifically for children to make art.
Rebecca Lowery, a longtime volunteer committee member and local ceramicist, spoke on the festival’s motivations for starting back in the late 70’s.
“It was started by a group of local artists who wanted to bring their artwork to Bloomington downtown and bring their friends, other national artists, into Bloomington to sell their work and to show Bloomington what we really offer here in the arts.” Lowery says.
The festival will mark its anniversary with a big sheet cake, limited-run special posters and a passport event where ten stamps can win a prize at one of the community booths.
For first time visitors, Lowery hopes the festival exposes them to Bloomington’s rich arts and culture scene.
“It really is a tradition.” Lowery says, “We've been around for so long and most people know, but believe it or not, because we have such a transient population coming in and out because of the university, a lot of people still don't know about us.”
The festival is free to attend and open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Sunday. More information is available at 4thstreet.org.
