Ring in Summer with an Arts Fair

by | Jun 21, 2017 | Art, seasons, summer, Washington | 17 comments

Today is the Summer Solstice. In Seattle that means almost sixteen hours of daylight. This morning the sun came up at 5:11 am, and it won’t be setting until 9:10 pm tonight. This is our reward for having suffered through those long nights of winter when the sun sets at four-thirty in the afternoon.

This past weekend Edmonds welcomed summer with its annual arts festival, a celebration that’s been going on since 1957. Picasso Lane, shown above, is one of five long “streets” on the grass. There were more crafts and juried art inside the Frances Anderson Cultural Center and on the deck and patio of the library.

In the 240 artists booths, artists and craftsmen from all over the country display their wares. This woman sells beautiful pearl jewelry.

The lady from Art’Frica stole a spare moment to eat her lunch.

The festival had twenty food vendors. Here are a few.

Strawberry shortcake, ice cream cones, and a dogOyster Poor Boys and riding on daddy’s shoulders

Sitting on the grass at the corner of Dali and Rembrandt and eating ice cream.

Lots of good music at the outdoor amphitheater

A cool sax at the wine and beer garden

And kids having fun

The weather was a perfect seventy degrees. It made for a pleasant start to the summer.

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17 Comments

  1. nrhatch

    No one in the photos looks happy . . . all the facial expressions look “resigned,” and world-weary, as if they are just “going through the motions.”

    Hope YOU had a B~I~G G~R~I~N on your face!

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      I didn’t notice anyone who looked world-weary. I did come near the end of the day, though, so undoubtedly there were some tired people there. Besides, appreciation of a beautiful painting or a cold scoop of ice cream is a rather quiet thing. Most of the grins and hopping around were found in the pavilion where the bands played. Unfortunately, the sky behind the stage was too bright for me to get any good pictures of the performers. The cool jazz in the wine and beer garden also was a quiet kind of pleasure. The saxophonist was terrific.

      Reply
  2. evelyneholingue

    Love these art festivals! Once in a while as we travel my husband and I bumped into one or two. Even if you don’t buy anything (I always want to buy something) it’s fun to explore and the ambiance is always friendly and neighborly. You’re lucky to enjoy cool temperatures up there 🙂

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      I didn’t allot myself enough time or I would have taken more pictures. One booth seemed to have beautiful paintings hanging on its walls until I got right up close to them. They weren’t paintings, though, they were tapestries made with very thin silk thread. According to her husband, the Chinese woman who “painted” them took four months to complete one of the average-sized tapestries . That’s just one of the booths that caught my eye. In a quiet moment, it’s always fun to chat with the artist.

      Today we’re still having mild but sunny weather. The forecast is warmer for the weekend.

      Reply
      • evelyneholingue

        Agree that there is often so much to see at such events that focusing on a few booths and talk with the artists is a wonderful idea. Take care up there.

        Reply
  3. autumnashbough

    It’s big enough to have have it’s own street signs? That is impressive. Also, I am now very, very hungry.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      They’ve had those street signs for as long as I can remember. It’s a nice touch.

      Can you believe it, I didn’t eat a thing. It was kind of an in-between time of day. Now I’m thinking the strawberry shortcake sounds more than tempting.

      Reply
  4. judithworks

    I always enjoy this fair (and end up buying something I don’t need)

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      I didn’t go until late on Sunday, so I foolishly thought I would just walk through the festival and it would be a nice outing. Then I saw something that would make a nice birthday gift for my daughter, and I had to run home and get my credit card. I’m glad I had enough time to do that.

      Reply
  5. macjam47

    The same town where we used to live (not far from my current location) has a yearly art fair. It is always a lot of fun and so interesting to see the artist talents of locals. I’m not sure they will have it this year. Half of the historic district of the town burnt down about a month ago and there are so many projects by various groups to earn money to rebuild. They are having some kind of an event nearly every week to raise money for the effort.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Oh! That’s such a shame. But it’s always heartening to see people working together after a community disaster.

      Reply
      • macjam47

        I’ve just heard they are going to be able to save the brick front of the buildings, but everything else is gone. At least a bit of history will be saved.

        Reply
        • Nicki Chen

          That must have been a terrible fire, leaving many people with big losses. And yes, in the future, they’ll have the brick fronts and also the story of the great fire.

          Reply
  6. Jill Weatherholt

    This is one of my favorite days of the year, Nicki. Thanks for sharing your photos. It looks like a great festival.

    Reply
  7. L. Marie

    I hope there was a melted pocket watch somewhere on the corner of Dali and Rembrandt. 😀

    Looks like a fun time! (No pun intended.)

    Reply

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