Fountain Square Art Festival

Free wine samples and FREE UNLIMITED POPSICLES? Yes. Yes. Yes.
This art festival is no contender to the Ann Arbor Art Fair extravaganza I’m used to, but it was a nice way to spend an afternoon.
I was obviously a big fan of the cupcake wine truck giving free samples of their wines, and an even bigger fan of the Outshine Popsicle trucks giving out free popsicles. It was a very hot day and I could’ve eaten a dozen of them. The parking was free on Sunday, which was great and it exits right into the festival.
My friends said that it seemed smaller this year with less vendors; it seemed like there weren’t many food vendors available (maybe 5 at most?), but there are plenty of other food options in downtown Evanston. So, that doesn’t really matter.
I was kind of bummed that I didn’t get to try out the paint your own canvas tent for $ 5, but I doubt I would’ve wanted to keep whatever I ended up painting!

No much for kids to do at this festival, but some nice looking items for sale. 2.5 stars

Last year, erratic weather whipped up the entire festival in a huge gush of wind and rain and darkness. I happened to be in my apartment at the time, and heard shattering handmade porcelain things from my 5^th floor window a block or two away. A curl of debris and feathers (er, there was at least one vendor of puppets) rose above the roofs of Orrington Ave. Then within minutes, just as quickly as it had begun, the sun was out again, beaming innocently like a cute girl who’s just flicked the back of your head.
That was a pretty tragic thing, because some people did get hurt from collapsing tents and whatnot, and also because a lot of original artwork that will never be duplicated likely was unexpectedly destroyed.
I did explore the festival a few times last year as well as this year, and it remains damn awesome to walk through (physical Etsy, bitch!). For the most part, the artists are all there and very willing to chat with you about their work. Vendors are extremely varied– as Danielle C. mentioned, there is plenty of 2D (photography, painting, whathaveyou), as well as jewelry. There’s also a ton of ceramics, glass work, sculpture, recycled art, clothing, metalwork, and even furniture– plus this guy who casts and handpaints awesome tiny model figures. Overall it’s something like 225 tents to walk around and explore. (There is also street fair fare –ha!– and live music, though neither is terribly interesting.)
It’s all a great dip into the Chicago craft scene. The downside: should you choose to buy, everything is horribly expensive. But if one is used to paying for handmade (and is it unfair to guess that the North Side of Illinois is used to $ 100 chip ‘n’ dip bowls?), or has friends they thoroughly thoroughly enjoy, then it probably is not too bad.

Mark your calendars kids… I, danielle C. ventured out of the city… to– GASP– a suburb for —- huge gush of breath to cover the embarassment – AN EVENT.
I really don’t know what happened. It must have been the Margaritas from Saturday night mixed with the Mojito from breakfast that made my will weaken. Otherwise, I just cannot figure out how I agreed to go into «the promised land». Café 28– I BLAME YOU– you serve a fantastic breakfast, and, an even better Mojito– that must have been it!
Anyhoo… the evanston art festival. It was well done. The weather really helped. It was a horribly stormy afternoon, so the moms & pops with their spoiled childrunts (you know the ones I am talking about– the ones who cannot get wet, cry all the time, and whine non stop) stayed home– for the most part. So stormy– that 10 people were injured (according to the trib) by blowing tents. Go figure.
The art was– well– all different types. Some really awesome mixed media prints were on display– that the few kids who were there were grossed out by– one of my friends headed for that tent immediately.
I picked up a great white gold pearl pendant necklace. Love it– I always wear pendants– so– I felt like a treat was in order.
Tons of photography and canvas paintings– ranging from about 25 $- 1,500. If you felt so inclined, you could also purchase a metal palm tree– I stayed away from that station, I did not want to encourage my friends!
All in all– not crowded, decently priced, and more than just Chicago skyline photos!
Oh– I found this funny when I was looking it up… They include stats on the attendance (cannot be accurate seeing as how we walked in and did not even have anyone asking for the suggested donation– :) go through the parking garage)
** 55% of attendees at the 2007 fair were from the Chicago/​Evanston area
** 38% came from the suburbs.
HELLO??? Evanston is a suburb— sheesh people!