Waterloo Arts Fest was the best

The big question was: “Will it rain?” The big answer: “Apparently not. But who cares? I’m staying for the Helper T-cells.”

That handsome painting of Waterloo shops that ran in the Friday tab, along with the write-up on the Waterloo Arts District? It came to life on Saturday, as 10,000 people (more or less) flowed up and down the road: listening, talking, eating, shopping, laughing. From the pre-opening ceremony of unveiling the mural at 11:30, to the official closing at 7 pm (when vendors had to be gently invited to pack up, as the last shoppers made their lingering choices), the Waterloo Arts Fest 2010 was one long series of happy encounters: People meeting people. People finding that one piece of pottery they’d been dreaming of. People hearing music they loved. Or encountering music they’d never heard before. Quite a lot of people meeting food.

And a rather smaller number meeting artists Dave Madigan and Terry Durst in their Reasonabilism counselling center (bring them a problem and they will talk reasonably for 10 minutes). Reasonabilism, as Terry and Dave were explaining to the radio interviewer while we watched, was born when they realized that artists, to be noticed, need to represent an ism. All the good isms seemed to be taken, so Dave and Terry created their own. Perfectly reasonable thing to do. No?

A lot of the encountering was done by visitors under five feet, making discoveries in the Kids’ Area: Lego is a sculptural material. Anybody (when directed by Chris Luciani) can perform on stage. And possibly the most important discovery from the entire Fest: all those socks that go missing in your dryer reappear in the Kids’ Area as sock puppets. Think about it.

There were political encounters, too; every year, I notice, another politician finds the Fest; this year we’re up to six. There was also a row of agencies and organizations, from Northeast Shores to Adopt A Beach to the Y to the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society to the Collinwood Observer, all offering just what you need: more ways to get involved in the neighborhood.

Seven hours (I did warn you) were hardly enough to take it all in (which may be why people were still shopping after it closed). Music, for instance, was provided by 21 bands and DJs. Fortunately they ranged from goofy kid stuff to girl groups to retro to Latin to most known flavors of rock to jazz to polka; only the seriously diverse would try to hear them all.

And close to 40 vendors were offering glass and pottery and jewelry and wearable art and painting and photography and those little things that are hard to describe but make wonderful gifts. Plus there were all the shops that normally inhabit Waterloo, whose owners do so much for the Fest and for the neighborhood,  and they were crowded.

The food, as forecast, was worth going for all by itself – one long graze from E156 to E161. Croatian sausage sandwiches? Check – at R&D Sausage Co., staying open for the occasion, with tables and chairs to eat them at. Hot dogs? Couldn’t do without them. Fabulous barbeque? That would be Blitz Barbeque, for third year. The Beachland Ballroom was serving in its parking lot. The Café at Arts Collinwood had Fest specials. There was soul food and a gourmet food truck, cabbage and noodles at the Slovenian Workmens’ Home. Fotina’s diner stayed open late, and the  Boardwalk brought in a band.

And the Arts Collinwood Café finally – finally – had its outside patio, thanks to streetscape repairs enabled by our councilman; thanks, Mike! The tables sit in a welcome patch of shade (street trees are wonderful things), and Café staff were rushing in and out with drinks and munchies.

Did we mention 40 vendors, ten thousand visitors and 6 politicians? Well, here are some other numbers:

• Years the Festival has been running? Two, maybe three? No, actually this is the eighth. Is it bigger than the first? Well -- the first was held in (part of) the parking lot of the Beachland Ballroom and the street certainly wasn’t closed. How did local stores like Music Saves or Blue Arrow Records fare in that first fest? They didn’t, ‘cause Waterloo Road was a pretty vacant place in those days. Stores like that were still just a dream waiting to happen. How did they fare this year? Business was booming.
• And we mentioned 6 politicians – well, there was also a seventh – a candidate for District 10 in the upcoming county elections.
• And how many volunteers helped make this happen? Close to 100, and many of them had been meeting since January: the street’s merchants, who donate cash and materials and electricity and labor; the artists who create installations; the volunteers who plan and send emails and make phone calls and get permits; and the obvious ones in their yellow T shirts, popping up everywhere on The Day. Clearly they helped in too many ways to count. And did they enjoy the Fest? As Jude Troha put it: “You bet! Can’t wait to do it again next year.”
• But did they just guide and help visitors? Will you believe me when I tell you that displays and kids’ facilities took hundreds of hours of preparation and installation?
• And were they just there for the seven hours of the Fest? No, Amy Callahan and a few friends hung an all-nighter prepping for the event. Then rushed home for a quick shower and were back in action when we lazy ones were still fast asleep.
• But of course the volunteers left for home as soon as the Fest was over at  7 that evening? Well, actually, Kurt Gyorki and friends were hard at it for several more hours stacking and storing some three hundred folding chairs and cleaning up in a couple of hundred other ways.
• Arts Collinwood was the ringmaster of this circus. You won’t believe me when I tell you they run that organization with just three half-time employees. So with a café to manage, a gallery of important shows and numerous classes and activities in their Community Center, the only way to create a Festival like this is to start well in advance. Sponsors must be found; there were 22 of these generous local organizations and, for the first time a special category of Friends of the Fest – private citizens putting their money where the art is: Jonathon Cooper, Rebecca Hartman, Carol Poh, Fred Kreiner, Earl Pike, Jeff Dixx and Chick Karnak. Vendors must be lined up, and did I mention permits? Have you ever tried persuading City Hall, the police and the fire department to let you close a street for seven hours?
• And radio and press coverage would be nice, wouldn’t it?

So there it all was: the music, the art, the food, the crowd, the vendors – your typical street fest. Ah, but wait – typical street fests don’t include Reasonabilism counseling; for that you have to come to Waterloo.

And it’s sad to say that this was in a sense the swan song of Sarah Gyorki, who helped found Arts Collinwood seven years ago and has  been at the helm ever since, underpaid, overworked but bubbling over with infectious joie de vivre. We’ll miss her sorely when she retires this fall, but be grateful that she has left us with such a vibrant and unique organization.