Artists and art lovers alike will flock to Gainesville this weekend for the city’s 31st annual Downtown Festival & Art Show.
The festival, which will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, is among the most popular city-hosted events and is expected to draw about 100,000 people, said Linda Piper, city events coordinator.
“This is something that is highly anticipated each year,” Piper said.
To kick off the two-day festival, the city will host a concert at 8 p.m. today on Bo Diddley Community Plaza.
Gainesville’s annual arts festival is Florida’s third-best art festival based on art sales, Piper said.
She said the festival is also ranked as the 13th-best fine arts show in the country.
About 600 artists apply to be a part of the festival, and less than half are selected, Piper said.
“We end up with 250 of the nation’s best artists,” she said.
Artists will be showcasing their work, including photography, paintings and jewelry.
“Nothing can be better than the Downtown Arts Festival to do just that,” she said.
The event will extend from the Hippodrome State Theatre to City Hall. There will be three stages for live performances, including a blues concert starting at 7 p.m. Saturday.
“This festival started out very small and just got bigger and bigger each year and has brought the community together,” Piper said. “Now it’s like throwing a party for 100,000 of your closest friends.”
