#FountainHills Friday: Festival Recap
This last weekend marked another successful Fountain Festival of Arts & Crafts! Aside from the tradition of beautiful art, there were a lot of changes made “behind the scenes”, and we are thrilled that the Festival was as big of a hit as it was despite those new changes. From attendance, great weather, a new application process, to different parking and new artists, the Fountain Festival of 2016 was one to remember!
For those who attended the festival, they could notice that attendance was quite great. Close to 200,000 spectators came to visit Fountain Hills, keeping up with the high attendance of previous years. The busiest day was Saturday, with an estimated 95,000 people in attendance. This year, Friday fell on Veteran’s Day, making it a great day for those with work off to stop by the festival. It was a great time to see the public wearing their “Red Shirts” to support our local VFW Post and those who serve in the Military.
Aside from the spectator attendance, there was a great number of artists participating in the Fountain Festival this year. In total, there were 487 artists. Many of those artists had “double booths”, making the final count of booths at the show 572. Additionally, we included 76 artists that were completely new to the Fountain Festival, which brought some fresh and exciting things to the show.
One of the biggest changes the festival faced this year was parking for the artists. In years past, artists were able to park not only their cars, but their large RV’s and trailers on the lots just off the Avenue of the Fountains. Due to the development of the Park Place Project, that had to change this year. Bart Shea, the developer of the Park Place Project, was extremely accommodating to our artists and let them park in the sections of the lots that had not yet broken ground on. In addition to the spaces created by Mr. Shea, additional parking was allocated for artists behind the businesses on the Avenue, and near Parkview. Even though we do not know what the Great Fair will hold for us regarding parking, we were happy to see just how the Fountain Festival adapted to change this year.
Another huge change that came along this year was the application process. In the past, those interested in applying to the art shows were given paper applications, but this year, we went completely digital. All applications were handled online through Zapplication, a program geared solely on art show management. This change in application process increased efficiency for our artists, the jurying process, and even increased the amount of applications from the year before. We hope that this positive change helps to keep the Fountain Festival improving in years to come.
And finally, weather was definitely one of the most talked about aspects of the festival this year. This last weekend was complete with absolutely perfect weather. There was not a cloud in the sky, making it ideal for those who came to Fountain Hills to stroll through the six different rows of artists. Last year, one of the days was drizzled out by some afternoon showers, so this year’s weather was a great change from last year. No matter what though, the show will always go on – rain or shine!
What was your favorite part about the Fountain Festival? We would love to hear what you had to say. Use the hashtag #FountainHillsFriday to let us know!