BUFFALO, N.Y. — 2 On Your Side is celebrating the Elmwood Village ArtFest, which is back for its second year.
It is this Saturday and Sunday, so on Thursday we got a preview.
"We have more artists this year. We have more music this year. We have more food trucks this year. We took the opportunity to start off a little small last year because we didn't have as much planning time. This year with the extra time, we were able to grow the festival a little bit more, so you will see everything you loved last year, just more of it," said James Cichocki, the Elmwood Village Association executive director.
Cichocki says this festival is unique because Elmwood Avenue stays open, making it easier for people to visit the artists and shops.
"In a lot of art festivals, the streets are closed, and you're walking down the middle of the streets, and all you see are the tents on either side. Our festival has the tents right up in front of the shops, in parking lots, where the restaurants are, so not only are people patronizing the artists, they're going into the shops, they're having lunch or drinks in all the great restaurants we have here," Cichocki said.
"And even if they're not buying something from the local merchants today, they're seeing that shop and they're thinking, 'Hey, I have to come back here to do my Christmas shopping.' "
Therese Deutschlander is the Elmwood Village Association board president and also owns Thin Ice. She says this year, the festival has an expanded footprint with more parking lots available for artists. It goes from West Ferry to Jack Rabbit, with the artists filling parking lots in between.
"Bidwell is our station location for the festival attractions, so we've got a drag show, we've got a pizza eating contest sponsored by Mr. Pizza, we've got food trucks there, we've got all the beer there, so it's a really fun opportunity for if you want to walk all around Elmwood, check out the shops, check out these artists," Deutschlander said.
"Or if you just want to go and hang out on Bidwell and just drink there and hang out, which kind of was what people do with like our concert series, you can do that, too, so we're trying to have something for everybody. You're pushing a stroller, we're making sure that the sidewalks are clearer this year. That was an issue that we had last year, so we're making it really clear that the businesses are open, and the sidewalks are open, for people travelling and you can hang out at Bidwell."
The fun starts at 11 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday and will include more than 140 artists.
"This community really appreciates local artists, and so it make sense that this community supports the businesses year-round, and so kind of marrying the businesses with the artists more in a more organic way just makes sense," Deutschlander said.
Cichocki added: "This is a tremendous thing for the merchants, it's a great thing for the residents, they have a festival right outside their door that they can walk out to and enjoy, so we think it's a win-win situation all around."