The sounds of eclectic music and smells of frying food drifted among droves of art lovers through the brick streets of downtown Gainesville Sunday.
The 31st Downtown Festival & Art Show packed downtown with about 100,000 people Saturday and Sunday.
People drifted among tents displaying photographs, paintings, jewelry, ceramics and art created through countless other mediums.
Linda Piper, event coordinator for the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, said about 50,000 people came to the festival each day this weekend.
“It’s like throwing a street party for 100,000 of your closest friends,” Piper said.
But this party took up more than one street.
Police blocked off a chunk of downtown spanning from just north of City Hall to the Hippodrome State Theatre and from Main Street to Southeast Third Street.
People of all ages wandered the area, and some pushed relatives in wheelchairs and strollers.
Dogs scampered next to their owners, stopping to sniff a stand or greet another canine companion.
One section of the festival, called Imagination Station, offered activities for children such as finger painting, crafting, magic shows and an inflatable slide.
Adults paused as they walked through the festival, peering into the tents of the about 250 artists and vendors who set up tents for the weekend.
The artwork was as eclectic as the people who came to the event.
Large, steel statues stood 5-feet tall, while the soft clanging of windchimes echoed in the distance. Paintings of all genres hung on canvassed walls next to their proud creators.
This year, 35 new artists showcased their work.
One of those new faces, William Kidd from Myanmar, won best-in-show for his ceramic sculptures.
Most of the work in his tent looked like alien, plant-like forms.
“They’re organically inspired,” Kidd said. “I’ll look at things like coral reefs, seeds, spores and cacti. I don’t want to duplicate them, but they influence my work.”
Though Kidd said he enjoyed the weather and the atmosphere, he said he heard other artists gossiping about lower attendance at the festival this year.
But some long-time visitors to the event said the crowd was the biggest they could remember.
“This year has been one of the smoothest,” said Dani Skaja, who said she attended the festival the past 13 years. “It just gets bigger and bigger every year.”
Skaja and her husband, John, said they love the atmosphere of the event and seeing new artists.
She also said she loved the smell of the fair food that was sold around the festival, though she couldn’t eat most of it.
“The food is always a draw,” she said, “even though we’re vegan.”
Contact Shelby Webb at swebb@alligator.org.
Sissy Smith, 3, paints a picture at her first Downtown Festival and Art Show in Gainesville Sunday afternoon. The event had a children’s section called Imagination Station.
