MANAYUNK

This year marked the 26th anniversary of the annual Manayunk Arts Festival but it marked my first time in attendance at the festival. Although I was unsure of what to expect of the festival, I was excited to see the art of the 300 or so artists who would be in attendance. While the festival did not officially start until 11 AM, the artists began to flock to Manayunk around 6 AM to find their booth locations and to set up their tents. While there was a little rain during check in  early on Saturday morning, the day ended up being beautiful albeit a little overcast at times and still welcomed a large crowd to Main Street.

While walking through the festival during my free time, it was amazing to see all the different types of pieces that were being sold, even in the Emerging Artists tent. Some of my favorite pieces of the show were in the Photography and Painting/Drawing categories. It was great to see how many people still came out to see all the wonderful art across all of the seven categories, which also included Mixed Media, Wood/Sculpture, Glass/Ceramics, Jewelry, and Fiber. It was also amazing to see the variety of people in attendance at the festival, whether they were artists or attendees, as they all brought their own unique stories.

Prior to the start of the weekend, there was a predicted storm for the whole of Sunday but it ended up being sunny almost all day and allowed the festival to welcome many more people than was predicted. The second day of the festival began at the same time with the same excitement from all the artists, who were looking forward to showing off their pieces. And there were many smiles over the new forecast of a warm, sunny summer day. Overall while this weekend was hectic and busy, it was also a great learning experience and overall a very fun two days.