by Angela Hopkins
Every year I look forward to, and I do not think I am going out on a limb here, the festival of all festivals in DFW. The Main Street Arts Festival! The Cliffs Notes for the Main Street Arts Festival are as follows: Starting April 18th at 10am and you can come and go as you please all day every day through April 21st. Not only is the Festival itself free, including three live music stages, but parking on the weekend is generally free, and this year they have water stations to fill up, also free.
In awe of the art, look up, look down, some you may just need to walk around. Pieces to paintings, boxes to bottles, your eyes will pop out of your head as you are exposed to endless amounts of creativity. Unfortunately the system for dining options is coupons. Lame. In the past they have been mostly all the fine eateries in Fort Worth. Looking at the list, it seems a little scarce. If you visit the Reata tent, go with the tamales. If you go to Schakolad Chocolate Factory, a frozen chocolate banana will help you land a few dates. I do appreciate the craft bier tent from Flying Saucer and happy to see them as a participant. The Flying Saucer is hosting several grand tasting sessions, schedule is on the website. Stop and grab a ginormous bag of kettle corn before tossing back a few lagers and ales. Munchies galore just steps away.
I think of the Main Street Arts Festival as my Quarterly Christmas. But I do not have to buy anything, clean up after anyone, and I can drop people off instead of waiting for them to leave.
I highly recommend going on Thursday afternoon and staying all day if you can get out of work. This is the only time you will be able to freely move about. Parking garages near Main Street are like Starbucks, one on every corner. Several of them, if you stay until after 8pm at the festival, they just allow the exit arm up. Most of the people working in the building have gone home for the evening and so does the booth employee. I say park a few blocks over from Main Street depending on which direction you need to leave from, because you will not be able to cross over Main Street to return to your destination. Better yet, ride your bike.
Ladies, wear sneakers. You look silly in stilettos. Also, leave your pets at home. While walking the festival, especially if you are crunched for time, cruise all the way down one side then U-turn and do the other side. You will want to walk around inside each tent. They are generally divided into 4 slots. Try not to get sucked in and lose your bearings. It will save you time and you will not miss anything. Score!
