Change in weather
for CenterFest
By
GINNY SKALSKI, The Herald-Sun
September 5, 2005 9:34 pm
DURHAM -- Soaked by rain for four years in a row, this year's CenterFest downtown arts festival is moving from September to October in hopes of drier weather.
The location will move, too.
This year's festival will shift to just west of the Downtown Loop to avoid entangling artists and visitors with ongoing downtown street construction.
The 32nd annual CenterFest, scheduled for Oct. 8 and 9, will take place on West Main Street, sandwiched between the former Liggett & Myers tobacco buildings.
"We've gotten rave reviews from our artists about changing our dates because CenterFest, in the past, has been hampered by tropical storms and hurricanes very often," said Shelley Stonecipher, director of development and external affairs for the Durham Arts Council. "So we're hoping the later date will help us for weather reasons."
The date change is good news for potter Molly Pasca, who has been showcasing her mostly black and white pottery at CenterFest since the early 1990s.
She hasn't seen a decline in sales during the past few rain-soaked years. But she's not a fan of the wet weather.
"It's the only show I've been to where the customers will hand me their umbrella while they dig for their wallet," Pasca said.
Although the festival will remain downtown, businesses inside the loop might not see as much foot traffic, Stonecipher said. As a result, the Arts Council, which coordinates the festival, is setting up a special booth for downtown artists.
Downtown artists won't be able to sell their artwork at the booth, but they will be able to display it and hand out contact information. Jurors review the artists' works months before the festival and select participants for the show.
Letting people who didn't go through that process sell work in the show would violate the agreement the Arts Council has with selected vendors, Stonecipher said.
So far, only one group has confirmed its participation in the downtown artists' booth. But Stonecipher expects more artists will sign up as the festival approaches.
Previously, the festival centered on the Old Five Points area where Chapel Hill, Main and Morris streets intersect. The festival's new location on West Main Street is closer to Duke and Gregson streets. Arts Council Director Sherry DeVries hopes that will help draw more people.
This year's festival will feature a sculpture garden between two of the old tobacco buildings. Organizers say the garden will give sculptors and woodcarvers a better venue to display their larger pieces. There also will be three stage areas for music and other performances instead of two.
"We're really looking at every aspect of the festival and evaluating and figuring out what will work well and what will work better," DeVries said. "We're having a lot of fun seeing how great we can make it."
If the new site is a hit, DeVries said, it's possible West Main Street could become CenterFest's new home.
Bill Kalkhof, president of the center city promotional agency Downtown Durham Inc., said he understands that the Arts Council has to make the wisest business decision. Still, he believes organizers will want to move the festival back inside the Downtown Loop once the street work and a city center plaza are complete.
"I'm very pleased that the folks at the arts center worked very hard to keep it as close to the city center as possible," Kalkhof said.
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-643565.html