Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival Celebrating 26th Year, April 14-17, 2011

Main St. Fort worth arts festival celebrating 26th year, april 14-17, 2011

Known as the crown jewel of Texas’ events, the free festival in downtown Fort Worth is ranked as the #1 arts festival in Texas and the 6th largest arts festival in the U.S.

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — January 12, 2011 — On April 14-17, the 26th annual MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival (MAIN ST.) will take place in downtown Fort Worth, showcasing a nationally recognized juried art fair, savory food, live concerts, performance artists, street performers and more. Known as the crown jewel of Texas’ events, MAIN ST. is ranked as the #1 arts festival in Texas and the 6th largest arts festival in the U.S. byThe Harris List and the Art Fair SourceBook, two authoritative reference works on the American art-show circuit.

This year, the streets of downtown Fort Worth are expected to be filled with fascinating sights and sounds as tens of thousands of fine artists, dancers, performance artists, musicians, exhibitors, food vendors and art lovers take part in the four-day celebration. More than 200 juried artists will line the historic red bricks of Main Street, weaving a diverse blend of texture and shape down the “magnificent mile” of visual art booths, performance stages and intriguing characters to create an explosion of color against the turn-of-the-century buildings and modern skyscrapers of downtown Fort Worth.

“No matter their level of art know-how (the lesser-experienced and Pablo Picassos alike), tens of thousands of art and festival-loving folks experience an eye-popping weekend each year at MAIN ST.,” said Jay Downie, events director for Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives Inc., producer of MAIN ST.

JURIED ART FAIR

Visual art is the centerpiece of MAIN ST. This year, 229 artists were selected from nearly 1,500 applications to exhibit their work, ranging from sculpture, painting and photography to woodcarvings, glasswork, jewelry, fashion, mixed media and more. More than $4 million worth of art is expected to sold during the festival, at prices ranging from $50 for signed, limited edition prints to thousands for original works.

TASTE OF FORT WORTH

MAIN ST. brings hundreds of the region’s top restaurants and chefs to downtown Fort Worth, allowing guests to experience excellent culinary fare from a wide range of local establishments such as Riscky’s BBQ, Reata and Cantina Laredo. Favorite menu items range from tamales and burritos, wraps and gyros, and turkey legs and funnel cakes to barbecue, burgers and hot dogs. Soft drinks, smoothies, iced tea and lemonade as well as beer, margaritas and Texas wines are also available. Save time and skip the lines by purchasing food and beverage coupons in advance through April 13. Strips of 12 coupons cost $8 at the Festival Store, located online at www.MainStreetArtsFest.org.

ENTERTAINMENT

Fort Worth’s largest arts festival is also the city’s largest music festival. This year, more than 300 national, regional and local musicians will perform on three different stages, including Bettye LaVette, Rosanne Cash, Ravi Coltrane and the Chinese Acrobats. Check www.MainStreetArtsFest.org for a complete lineup, performance dates and times.

HISTORY

MAIN ST. traces its beginnings to the early 1980s when the City of Fort Worth set in motion a campaign of urban revitalization in the Central Business District. As momentum began to build, businessman Robert Bass spearheaded the initial effort in 1986 to create an event showcasing the attractions of the city’s reawakening downtown core. Mr. Bass and other prominent civic leaders envisioned a multi-faceted festival that would transform downtown into an outdoor gallery and concert stage on an early spring weekend. That first MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival was a three-day event involving 140 artists, 60 performance groups and 600 volunteers. Attendance was approximately 80,000. Two and a half decades later, downtown Fort Worth has become a thriving, 24-hour live-work-play environment. The MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival, meanwhile, has followed a parallel trajectory, evolving into the biggest and best-attended event of its kind in the Southwest.

GENERAL INFORMATION

MAIN ST. is annually produced by Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc., and is free to the public. Festival hours for 2011 are:

  • Thursday, April 14, 2011: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
  • Friday, April 15, 2011: 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.
  • Saturday, April 16, 2011: 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.
  • Sunday, April 17, 2011: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.

For additional event information, visit MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival online at www.MainStreetArtsFest.org, visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mainstreetartsfest, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mainstreetfest , or download the free MAIN ST. iPhone application directly from your Apple device or from the iTunes App Store.

ABOUT MAIN ST. FORT WORTH ARTS FESTIVAL

MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival celebrates its 26th year in 2011 and is presented by Coors Light. Official Sponsors for 2011 are CHASE, Sundance Square, Green Mountain Energy, University of Texas at Arlington and XTO Energy. Media Sponsors include CBS 11/TXA 21, D Magazine and the Star-Telegram as well as radio stations WRR 101.1, Mix 102.9, 102.1 The Edge, 106.1 KISS FM, 95.9 FM The Ranch, Country Legends 92.1, and Lone Star 92.5. Supporting Sponsors include Coca-Cola Bottling Company of North Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth Professional Musicians Association, Fort Worth Transportation Authority.

The festival is produced by Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc., a 501 (c) 3 organization formed in 1988 to complement the work of Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. and the Public Improvement District by provide a funding pathway for charitable, educational and public-purpose activities, such as community festivals, residential development and park management. Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc. produces MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival and the Chesapeake Energy Parade of Lights, which includes lighting ceremonies for the city’s Christmas tree. These events have an economic impact of more than $19 million annually and attract more than 500,000 visitors to downtown Fort Worth each year, all building to a sterling celebration of 26 years on MAIN ST. in 2011. For more information, visit www.dfwi.org.

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