BUFFALO, N.Y. — Artists on Elmwood, party at Bidwell.
That's the general idea behind the new Elmwood Village Art Festival, according to Elmwood Village Association Board President Therese Deutschlander.
"It starts at West Ferry, and then work up to Bidwell, after party's there, and then after-after party is at more of the businesses on Elmwood," she said.
This is the first time the Elmwood Village Association is putting on an art festival, and they only had a few months to pull it together. It's taking the place of the former Elmwood Village Festival of the Arts. That event used to be run by an outside organization, and they decided not to continue it this year.
"This is the mission of the Elmwood Village, is to bring together the businesses and the community and to do anything they can to add vibrancy to support the Elmwood Village, and so this made sense," said Deutschlander, who also owns the Thin Ice gift shop.
"I work with a lot of the local artists through my business and so I love bringing them to Elmwood and I love bringing them support in the community so it just was a very, very natural decision."
The biggest difference you'll notice is that the street won't be shut down. Artists will line the sidewalks and take over parking lots with their tables and booths instead. There will also be a kids zone inside and outside Lafayette Presbyterian Church, as well as a stage set up in Bidwell Parkway with live entertainment.
"We've got seventeen hours of entertainment planned for you," Elmwood Village Association Executive Director James Cichocki said. "We've got six food trucks, we've got a terrific beverage tent run by our friends at the Beer Keep on Elmwood, so it's going to be a great place to go and hang out all weekend."
Deutschlander says the goal in future years would be to close the street down, but they didn't have enough time this year to get the permits needed.
"The goal is in future years to definitely close down the street, when we'll have an entire year to plan it, but for this year we had barely four months to gather all the artists, everything else, and work with Bidwell and work with this church to get the kids zone here," she said. "So it's been a lot to juggle and the team's done a great job."
Some local businesses, including Jack Rabbit, contributed last minute sponsorships to make sure the bands were paid to perform.
Jack Rabbit Partner Kevin Sampson said, "The EVA stepped up to save a wonderfully vibrant festival of the arts and we should all be grateful for that. After the unexpected backlash from many local musicians, we felt we had the resources to help our Elmwood Village community and the incredibly talented and hardworking musicians here in Buffalo."
Another highlight is sure to be the second annual Buffalo Eats hot dog eating contest on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
"We're going to have eight contestants including the champion from last year that's returning," said Cory Muscato of the Beer Keep. "It's the most buffalo thing I could think of. This is a community for Buffalo, put on by Buffalo. Not just Elmwood Village but all the communities."
The Elmwood Village Art Festival starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 26 & Sunday, August 27. Full details are available at www.elmwoodvillageartfestival.com.