Carbondale Bytelife

Got to the Carbondale Wine and Art Festival about 9 p.m. in time to help pull down tents and chairs at 10. It was still pretty crowded but the crowd was pretty mellow, with only half a dozen people up dancing to the Ivas John Band. The rest seemed happy to wander from booth to booth, sampling and buying, or sitting at the tables, sipping and chatting. A much more relaxed event than evening at the Carbondale Pig Out.

The artist's pavilion was pretty quiet but then it was getting dark, the time of day when people are wanting to drink wine and listen to music, rather than buy art. The pavilion was a block away from the wine tasting area and I heard a couple of complaints about that. However, since only one artist brought a test and Main Street's limited number of tents were used by the various wineries that also didn't bring their own, the pavilion was the best solution to keep them out of the sun, rather than let them bake on the asphalt all afternoon. I did hear the guy who did the collages, at least, was quite happy with his sales.

I heard attendees were already asking when the next W&A Festival would be and urging Main Street to host one twice a year. Main Street, from what I understand, was hoping for 500-600 attendees. Rough estimates last night, after the staff had been on their feet several hours, were between 800-900. Pretty successful, esp. for an event that relied on WOM and publicity to get the word out, since the ad budget had been spent on promoting the May date for the event.

Labels: Carbondale Main Street, downtown Carbondale, festivals

Carbondale Main Street will (hopefully) sponsor a Wine and Art Fair next Friday from 4 to 10 p.m. The fair was originally scheduled for last May but was canceled the afternoon of the event due to forecasted bad weather. All ten of the Shawnee Wine Trail wineries are scheduled to be there with music by Sharon Clark in the afternoon and the Ivas John Band in the evening.

Labels: Carbondale Main Street, downtown Carbondale, things to do

In case you run out of fresh vegetables during the week and don't want to make do with the fine selections at Arnold's Market or the Neighborhood Food Co-op (or Town Square Market, Kroger, Schuncks and Wal-mart), Carbondale Main Street has launched its mid week farmer's market for 2008. Yep, sizewize it doesn't compare to the Murdale market but then it's not trying to complete but complement. This week's offerings (from the website):

this week (5/21): Asparagus, Lettuce, & Tomatoes (the asparagus is sweet, the lettuce is crunchy and tender - and the tomatoes are from a new vendor, so come by and try 'em out!)

Vend or buy at the Mid-week Farmers Market On the Square

Every Wednesday from 4pm to 6 pm - May 14 through September 3

Main Street is seeking vendors for its Mid-week Farmer's market. We are a smaller market and looking to expand. Vendor space is reasonable, and the Historic Town Square is an increasingly busy place.

Labels: Carbondale Main Street

If you're looking for something to do tomorrow evening, Carbondale Main Street is sponsoring the first Annual Wine and Art Fair at the Town Square from 4 until 10 p.m. $5 apparently gets you the opportunity to taste wines from all 9 of the Shawnee Wine Trail wineries. It's my understanding that Main Street wanted to have a spring event at the northern end of the Strip to counterbalance the Pig Out at the other end during the fall. Here's hoping it's successful.

Labels: Carbondale Main Street, downtown Carbondale

Carbondale Main Street is looking for church or other groups interested in caroling in the downtown area on the afternoon of December 1st, prior to the Lights Fantastic parade. Time commitment would be 1/2 to a full hour. If you're interested, call Meghan Cole at 529-8040 or email info@carbondalemainstreet.com

Labels: Carbondale Main Street, Lights Fantastic

The DE finally ran a full page story on the Carbondale Pig Out, two days after the event. I guess better late than never.

Kids activities were a bit sparse lacking. That was the main complaint I heard from attendees. There was the Fire Department's Smoke House and three inflatables for kids to climb and bounce on and the race track. No face painting, like the flyer advertised. The pony rides, which were a big hit last year, got canceled because because the man providing them got a flat tire on his trailer and apparently wasn't able to get it changed in time to drive five miles. The kids really enjoyed the inflatables, though.

Food went over very well, as usual. Bethel A&E sold out of all of their catfish, jambalaya and peach cobbler. In fact, they sold out of all the food they had by about 9:30 Saturday night. 17th Street Bar and Grill also did well and closed down around 10 p.m. The only place still serving anything was Paulette's and even they were down to a few items by the end of the festival.

Beer tent, not so good. From the main gate area, the crowd looked pretty sparse and the couple of times I walked through, I could have rolled a bowling ball through without much trouble. I think it was just too cool for people to enjoy beer that much. Plus as was pointed out in the comments, a lot of them were up at the stage in the evening, dancing.

A good event overall. As people were changing back in their tokens for cash, I made it a point to ask if they enjoyed themselves and, with the exception of a couple, all said yes and that they'd be back next year. Those that didn't said it was only because they got there too late to get food.

Labels: Carbondale Main Street

Just a reminder that the Main Street Pig Out BBQ event starts at 4 p.m. tomorrow with a 2 hour set by Josh Plemon and the Lonesome Drifters at 4:30, followed by two more hours with the Woodbox Gang at 8 p.m. It's only $2 to get through the gates or a buck if you have a specially marked Pepsi can. If you're really short on cash, you can always stand outside the fence and listen. At least the last couple of years, 17th Street Bar and Grill hasn't run out of all their BBQ before Saturday night.

Labels: Carbondale Main Street, downtown Carbondale

Don't forget the Main Street Pig Out is this Friday and Saturday. Much BBQ, music and beer for all (assuming you're of legal age and can afford it).

Labels: Carbondale Main Street, things to do