Edmonds’ Favorite Festival

The Edmonds Arts Festival is 54 years old, and looking better than ever. Taking over the this Father’s Day weekend, the festival will include Juried Galleries, Student Art and the always-popular artists vendors, who sell their work from tents set up on the field.

“The festival has a great history,” said Cheryl Waale, a local artist who is active in the arts community, and has helped with the Arts Festival for the past few years. “It has been growing over the years and now is pretty well know. It was voted Seattle’s favorite street fair a couple years back by 'Evening Magazine.'”

It may be labeled as Seattle’s favorite street fair, but hanging out at the festival is like a rite of passage for Edmonds residents. Aside from the vendors, who sell everything from jewelry to paintings to women’s clothing, there is also a food court with various types of food. Hungy visitors can buy Thai food, burgers and everything in between.

According to Waale, sometimes people get so wrapped up in the food and booths on the field that they forget to venture in the Anderson Center to see the juried art. These displays include all visual categories, such as glass, painting, weaving, sculpture, jewelry and photography. Another new section at the festival is in the juried area—computer art.

Waale has particular affinity for the student art exhibit.

“The student art exhibit honestly made me cry the first time I saw it,” Waale admitted. “Those are the little nuggets that sometimes people miss because they think of the festival of being just all the outdoor areas.”

Aside from visual art, there will be a rich variety of performance art taking the stage throughout the weekend. Dancers from Olympic Ballet Theatre and Barclay Shelton Dance will perform, and a number of live musical guests will provide the soundtrack for the weekend with everything from jazz to rock.

The Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation donates much of festival proceeds to scholarships and education. The Foundation also helps fund public art like the bronze group statue at the Edmonds Waterfront Walkway. 

The Edmonds Arts Festival is June 17-19. For more information, and updated posts about participating artists, visit the official Facebook page.