The Fourth Street Festival filled filled Downtown Bloomington for the 43rd year, bringing those from all over to spend their Labor Day weekend helping support local artists.
This year, the two-day event had 125 booths and two different stages, one for music and the other for live poetry readings.
Over the last few years, the festival has increased by five booths, but the festival doesn’t want to over expand the amount they have.
Vicki Munn, 69, went from being an artist showing furniture to being the Fourth Street Festival director. She talked about the work that goes into the festival and why it would be harder to expand.
“We’re not looking to have a giant art booth display because it’s a pie,” Munn said, “and the more pieces you cut, the smaller the take is.”
Not all of the artists who show work at the festival are based in Bloomington. Artists came from all over the country to sell their art pieces.
A lot of the artists go to about 20 of these types of festivals every year, but the Fourth Street Festival is one of the smaller ones the artists tend to go.
Painter Vladimir Ovtcharov came from Albuquerque to sell his artwork at the festival for the sixth time this year. He said it wasn’t one of the bigger festivals that he attends but still is a good way to promote his work.
“That’s why I do festivals — because you have to contact the customers directly,” he said.
The customers that Ovtcharov reaches for showed up. His booth was filled with those in awe of his mystical paintings.
Mireia Frutos from Spain attended the festival for the first time ever and was in love with it.
“Everything is different, and many things I had never seen at any fair,” she said.
Frutos had not gotten to see a lot of the festival yet and was excited to keep walking to discover more of the artists there.
Sebastian Coleman, a glass blower, showed his work at the Fourth Street Festival for the second year. His sister-in-law is an art professor at IU, and his brother works at Notre Dame, making the festival the perfect time for all of them to get together.
