Otter swims at Frankford’s Barn Hill Preserve
A promotional video of otter swims at Barn Hill Preserve.
Dustin Barnes, Delaware News Journal
The Brandywine Festival of the Arts is getting ready to take its 61st lap around the sun in style this weekend at Brandywine Park in Wilmington.
The event features more than 200 juried artists, as well as live music, food vendors, children’s activities and nonprofits in booths and tents on Saturday and Sunday.
An estimated 15,000 guests are expected to attend the event, where they can shop for a variety of handcrafted wares, original artwork by artists such as Wilmington illustrator Ray Reinsfelder, and more.
Fans of the HBO series “Games of Thrones” will want to seek out Wilmington jeweler Olga Ganoudis, who crafts and sells officially licensed HBO products from the popular TV show. Among her wares are rings, pendants, and dragon egg paperweights.
The event draws talented creators from all over the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond. One artist is coming all the way from Mexico.
Closer to home, this year’s featured artist is coming from Pennsylvania. Beth Palser will be on hand to show her watercolors in a style she describes as “graphic realism.”
“Viewers are attracted to my watercolors because it’s singular. I am doing my own thing and it [can’t] be compared to anything else,” she said in a statement. “Most have never seen an approach to a traditional medium painted in such a unique manner.”
Festival producer Barry Schlecker of Barry’s Events took over running the event in 2010, back when it was struggling. Schlecker has revitalized the festival and it now has reputation of being a top money-maker for artists.
“Many of the local artists profit in two ways. They obviously sell art this weekend. But they’re also handing out cards and they’re saying, ‘Come to my holiday show in November and December.’ So they’re getting a double bang,” he explained.
After Schlecker took over the festival years ago, he added a food court with many more vendors, as well as live music and lots of fun activities for children. He noted the event evolved from an “art show to a family festival.”
“People are staying in hotels, buying gas and eating at restaurants,” Schlecker explained. “I can’t put a number on it, but it adds hundreds and thousands of dollars of economic boost to this area.”
Offering family-friendly entertainment and more delicious nibbles has encouraged more folks to show up at the event, the organizer said. It helps that food vendors dish up lunch and dinner, which means guests are staying later and spending more money and stimulating the local economy, Schlecker observed.
Timing is a key to the Brandywine Festival of the Arts’ success, Schlecker said. That’s because in September, folks start shifting more into a holiday mindset and begin thinking about gifts they can buy.
“It announces the fall,” he said about the popular fest. “We’re always the weekend after Labor Day. It’s become a tradition to the region and people have told me they’ve been coming for 20, 30, 40, 50 years.”
Brandywine Festival of the Arts will be held at Brandywine Park (1001 North Park Drive, Wilmington) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday; and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday. Admission is $5; Children under age 12 are free. For more information, visit brandywinearts.com.
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