Opening day at Arts In The Plaza/Greenfest

By, Alana Berg

This past weekend, Arts In The Plaza kicked off their season.  Luckily it turned out to be a beautiful day!  What a perfect way to begin the holiday weekend.  Not only were there many talented artistic vendors presenting their handmade products, but there were also green vendors that were present at our event as well, as a result of Greenfest taking place on the same day. Greenfest vendors included Island Harvest, Surfrider Foundation, as well as Project Challenge, to name just a few.

     Our vendors’ beautifully handcrafted work included original paintings, hand carved soap and wooden products.  Hand crafted hula hoops and jewelry were also featured in the plaza.   In addition, there were painted seashells, including a wide variety of designs to select from, ranging from Cinderella to beautifully handmade skull designs; as well as clothes made by hand, among many more other products. From knitted and crocheted baby clothes to air brush and beach apparel, all of these items were made by hand. Ranging from Halloween to 4th of July, the Butterfly Boutique makes assorted handmade accessories for different holidays and seasons throughout the year.

But, it did not end here. Our farmers market featured a gorgeous variety of flowers.  For coffee and tea lovers, there was a wide variety of fresh beverages available for purchase.  In addition, there was an assortment of samples for attendees to enjoy.  This included fresh breads alongside home made vinaigrette dressing; baked gourmet goods such as farm fresh quiche, home made rice pudding, gluten free oat meal cookies, granola; as well as several vegan options for attendees to select from.  In addition, there were gourmet Israeli products, featuring babagonoush and a variety of hummus. Clearly, there was certainly a large variety of healthy and organic products for attendees to taste!

Our live musical entertainment, Benoir and the Long Beach All-Stars, as well as Videodj Carmelo, certainly put on a phenomenal show for our attendees.

     The Kids’ Art Station was a huge hit with many kids drawing!  As was the West End Arts’ booth featuring an exciting bottle caps critter craft for the kids to enjoy!  Kids also had fun playing with hula hoops and riding on the stand up paddle board. 

     Tune in for our next upcoming event, taking place on May 31.  The Long Beach Ukulele Orchestra led by Benoir and Jeff Alan will be performing at noon, and the Steve Adelson

Stick-tet performs from 1:30 to 4pm.  As always we will be featuring a variety of artistically talented vendors with their handcrafted arts.