Manayunk Arts Festival returns to Main Street this weekend

 The annual show will be held on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and Sunday, from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. (Bas Slabbers/NewsWorks, file)

The annual show will be held on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and Sunday, from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. (Bas Slabbers/NewsWorks, file)

Manayunk’s 24th Annual Arts Festival will welcome 320 artists from across the states and Canada this weekend.

The event, the region’s largest outdoor juried art show, will take place on Main Street between Green and Shurs lanes on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year’s theme is “Art: Unexpected. Creating New Genres.”

Among the local artists participating are Sara Gallo, who designs jewelry made entirely from Barbie doll shoes, and Zoe Einbinder, who uses preserved fruits in her jewelry pieces.

Teresa Haag, a painter from Phoenixville, covers many of her canvases with newspapers. This is Haag’s second showing on Main Street. Last year, she was one of 25 local artists selected for the festival’s first sponsored “Emerging Artist” tent, a feature offered again this year. The opportunity offers new artists more than exposure by providing free display space.

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In addition to submitting images of their work with their applications, artists also needed to include images of their booths. These tents are expensive to rent or buy, especially when participants also need to finance equipment such as display panels, frames, and lighting.

Haag credits her Emerging Artist experience with launching her painting career: one of her pieces won the Emerging Artist award last year, and she sold most of her displayed pieces. A Rochester native, Haag draws inspiration from an “industrial, older America” full of “things that no longer sparkle and shine and glimmer.” Spectators can find her work this year at Booth #258.

Visitors will also find food and drink samples offered by participating sponsors. These include Jadot Wines, Morning Star Farms, and Muller Yogurt. Folks hungry for more can visit a “food truck food court,” where The Cow and The Curd, Vernalicious, Farm Truck Philly and Pretzel Revolution will be on site.

The Manayunk Development Corporation strongly encourages spectators to take public transportation, as the event will close Main Street from Green to Shurs lanes, Roxborough Avenue and Gay Street. Side streets including Cresson will remain open, but the Levering Street Lot will be reserved only for participating artists. 

Alicia Dietzmann of the MDC recommends that visitors use SEPTA’s Manayunk-Norristown line, buses 35 or 61, or that they take advantage of a shuttle service running between the parking lot at 555 City Avenue and the festival. Children can ride free, and the $3 round trip fee for adults will benefit the North Light Community Center.

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