THE FESTIVAL: Artists, Dancers Delight Crowds

Artists, shoppers and performers took over Shamrock Park on Sunday for the Bel Air Festival for the Arts. There were 387 arts and crafts vendors, several food stands and over seven hours of live entertainment.

Attending the festival seems to be a tradition for local residents.

Vince Sabatino and his wife, who raised their children in the Bel Air area, said they have been coming for nearly 13 years.

"We like to come and see what people are making," he said as his wife examined a booth containing sparkly hair accessories for girls.

"This doesn't really turn me on," he said, pointing to the items that had captured his wife's attention. "But I'll find other things I'm interested in."

The festival seemed to have something for just about everyone. Fine artists sold paintings and photography, and crafters sold furniture, candles, quilts, jewelry, car accessories, doll clothes and plenty of Ravens gear.

Crafter Kathy Lally said that personalized items, like the chalkboards and lap trays that she decorates, have been a big draw this year.

"Anything personalized [people] love, especially for giving gifts," she said.

Becky Marshall said she came specifically looking for a personalized sign for her home.

Despite the struggling economy, vendors say they haven't noticed much of a difference in their sales.

"It's about the same every year," said Kevin Schmuck, while taking an order from a customer for a handmade broom.

Ken Drake, a furniture maker who calls himself the "Wood Chef," said he has done the same amount of sales for the past decade. This year, he came to the festival with one ton, or about 30 pieces, of furniture, and only had nine left halfway through the day.

Lally said that she did notice a small decrease in sales when the economy first took a dip.

"I remember the very first season of [the recession] being bad," she said. They have rebounded, but not totally. Today she estimates her sales are at about 90 percent of what they used to be before the recession.

"People's fear is gone," Lally said. She also noted that she has begun selling cheaper items because "people are more willing to buy something for just five dollars."

Susan Levi-Goerlich was displaying her works that are fashioned entirely from embroidery on painted silk, some of the more expensive items at the festival. She won first place in the "mixed-media" category at the festival.

"I do well enough that I come back," she said. She loves to sell her art, but even when she doesn't she enjoys to hear from people who appreciate her creations. 

Kelly Welsh, a first-time vendor and MICA graduate, said she also loves to watch people react positively to her work. She joked about her more abstract, surrealistic paintings standing out from the many works featuring "barns and kittens" that are prevalent at the festival.

"There have been more people interested in my kind if art than I expected," Welsh said.

Painter Mark V. Turner also delights in appreciative audiences, but he also finds the festival to be a great place to get some work done. On Sunday he sat in a folding chair by his display and worked on a commissioned portrait of a client's Greyhound.

"I get more work done at shows than I do at home. When I'm here I can spend several hours on what I do—it's a blessing in itself," Turner said.

While the art was the main attraction at Sunday's festival, there was enough food and live entertainment to occupy those not interested in crafts.

Several concession stands sold standard fair food: French fries, snowballs, apple fritters, soft pretzels and even pumpkin funnel cake.

Bel Air parent Tim Murdoch, who volunteered at the concession stand for the Bel Air Recreation Committee boys' lacrosse team, was grateful for the constant stream of customers.

"The community gets a lot of revenue generated for its sports teams" from their stand, Murdoch said.  

The money made from the all-volunteer operation helps to pay fees for area children who otherwise could not afford to play and for new equipment purchases.

Live entertainment at the festival included several bands, singing groups, and dancing groups—eight in all.

The 82 member Bel Air Community Band drew one of the largest crowds of the day.

"We always come when the band's playing," said Kelly Flett of Bel Air, whose daughter's music teacher is in the band. Marshall also said she stayed at the fair to see her mother play in the concert.

The Silver Eagle Cloggers performed before the Bel Air Community Band to a smaller but just as enthusiastic crowd.

"My granddaughter loves the cloggers," said Jeanne Butcher of Bel Air, her granddaughter standing beside her shaking her feet in imitation of the dancers.

"I saw a lot of people [today] I haven't seen in a long while," said Butcher's daughter Susan Roarty as she left the fair. She and her mother were happy they ran into old acquaintances and also got some Christmas shopping done.

Roarty and Butcher both enjoyed the fair because, they said, "It's a small town thing … Small town, USA."