Elmwood Ave Festival of the Arts

I spent a very enjoyable Sunday morning here this year. Much smaller than the Allentown Art Festival, its an easy 5 or 6 blocks of Elmwood — from St James Place to West Ferry.
Pros:
Id have to say each exhibitor was a high quality one. There really was none of the «junk» you may find at other festivals.
The food options were in specific areas, I noticed two of them, one at the St James end of the festival, the other on one of the side streets. Id imagine there was a third, but I did not make note of it. The expected food trucks were available.
Tons of «local tables», the BPO had one, Olmsted Conservancy another, Burchfield Penney a third. There were many others as well. A great way to learn more about the various attractions Buffalo has to offer year round.
Cons:
For these not living nearby or taking public transport, there was terrible parking organization, they had closed off most of the side streets nearby to «Local Traffic Only». If this had been a very humid hot weekend, that would have made for some long hot walks just to get there. As a result, there was really not a «disabled friendly» atmosphere about the festival. (If there was a designated disabled parking area, it was not well publicized enough to be easily found by me, searching for it on line).
They sold water for $ 1 bottle. Really? Costs under $ 5 for a case (including the deposit costs), sell the water for .50 (even .75) and stop doing such a huge markup. And while you are at it, put a sign on the table of the cost so people don’t have to ask about it.
Other:
There was music around as well, but I did not stay for long for any of that. Seemed like a great venue for it though, various stages and other covered areas throughout.
While I found the quality of the vendors terrific, I can only give this 3 stars, I think it was A-​OK. I am a fan, but the lack of easy disabled access brings it down a star for me.

This year was my first time attending the art festival; I hadn’t gone in the previous years because I would always fear the traffic and the atrocious parking situation. But, upon arriving there on a Saturday afternoon, it really wasn’t that bad. I was more than willing to park on a side street a couple of blocks away, and walk over to Elmwood. I’m sure that turns a lot of people away, but the neighborhoods around there are fun to walk through anyway.
Just like every other art festival, featured artists are there to show their stuff, and hopefully get a couple of interested buyers. Sculptures, paintings, jewelry — anything that can be made with a person’s own two hands can usually be found here. It was pretty hot on Saturday and it made walking down Elmwood a little uncomfortable, what with the big crowd being mashed together in an attempt to view what’s being sold, but at least they were selling refreshments.
Part of what I love about art festivals is the intimacy, being able to enjoy an artist’s work, and even speak with the artist themselves. I made a purchase from Dave Pollot, an artist who takes old paintings and adds «a little twist,» for example, a TARDIS or zombies on a farm. His art was incredibly cool, and I absolutely loved being able to talk to the artist all while supporting his pieces by bringing one home for myself. I bought a couple of other cool things that day, one of which I can’t for the life of me remember what the artist’s name was. But I think this year was pretty successful, judging by the popularity.
Four stars since I was actually able to buy a couple of things for a very fair price. Those hidden gems really make it worth dealing with the traffic/​parking/​crowds.

Second summer in Buffalo and I finally made it to the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts, and actually got there both days. Great collection of what appeared to be a juried (with the exception of the tent with all of the leather bags that were obviously mass produced) art fair. Lots of various mediums on display at what I thought were affordable prices. I really enjoyed seeing all of the scheduled entertainment, and heard the kids activities were amazing. There were plenty of water stations (it was a little warm in the festival area) and lots of food vendors that would appeal to various appetites. Really glad I made it this year, and next year I will not procrastinate on making a purchase in hopes that it would be there the following day… it wasn’t but the artist gave me his card and I can have one specially made. Even better. Looking forward to 2016’s fair.

Once a year, about 5 blocks of the Elmwood Village close down and a two-​day art festival pops up in its place. I find The EV art festival to easier to maneuver than the one in Allentown, probably because the streets are less narrow or maybe it’s just less massive.
I enjoy walking through this festival on a yearly basis, but I’ve honestly never bought anything here. There is lots to look at – from screen prints, to pottery, cutting boards, jewelry, photographs and everything in between. It’s fun to meet some of the local artists, enjoy the live, free music and meet some people in the community. I’m a fan of the festival, even if it makes driving home a little harder that day ;).

Small festival but hits all interest from old to young. Crafts for kids, food, jewelry, prints, ceramics, clothing, etc. All local businesses open and set up outside. I’m a dog LOVER and have a pup however I would recommend not bringing you fur baby. Concrete is too hot and nobody is paying attention to where they are stepping. If you can get down to Elmwood, it’s worth it.

My five star review is for the music. The art is what you would expect: pottery, garden accoutrements, jewelry, T shirts, etc.
There are usually three stages and a plethora of genres. While it’s unlikely you will like everything, with so many options you will probably enjoy quite a lot.
On Saturday and Sunday nights they end with a concert on the main stage at Lafayette Avenue. This is the high point of the festival for me, as the sky darkens, the moon rises, and whatever music they play seems imbued with a poignant, beautiful end-​of-​summer vibe.

This is a small art festival, but it’s a lot of fun! Nowhere near the magnitude of the Allentown Art Festival, but it does boast plenty of vendors and activities. They break the street into different zones — cultural, kids, food, etc.
The biggest plus for me is Community Beer Works brewing a special beer for the event itself — the FestivAle, a combo of a cream ale and saison. Yum! It’s a good time for all ages, and it was a great way to knock back a few hours supporting the local community. I love this asset to the EV!

The Elmwood Festival of the Arts is a rather new but quite welcome addition to the Buffalo summer events calendar. For a Friday, a Saturday, and a Sunday, a considerable portion of Elmwood Avenue in the Elmwood Village is shut down to make way for tents, stalls, carts, and so forth.
If you’re thinking to yourself, «Hmm… this sounds a bit like the Allentown Art Festival,» you’d be right on. But there are significant differences between the two festivals, virtues to both. While Allentown attracts artists and vendors from all over the northeast, E.F.A. prides itself on featuring local artists. This year, the most far-​flung vendor supposedly hails from Syracuse. We’re talking local art, and the content of many of the paintings and photographs in particular reflect this fact. The downside to this focus is that many of the more creative, innovative, and/​or kitschy art I find so fun to ogle at Allentown isn’t on display here. You won’t find at E.F.A. refrigerator magnets made from beer bottle caps or figurines welded from railroad spikes, for example, much to my chagrin.
So I barely spent any time looking at the art. Instead, I appreciated much of the rest of what the festival offers. Down several side streets, festivalgoers will find booths housing local community organizations, nonprofits, and environmental advocacy groups. These range from a Buffalo fencing club to a dog adoption group walking around with some very smiley, friendly pit bulls, to culture groups, the BPO, Planned Parenthood, and a bunch of folks advocating every kind of alternative energy source imaginable. While I consider myself quite well informed on the goings on of Buffalo, I hadn’t heard of many of the groups. I was delighted to see them and a few of the more usual suspects receive open-​minded questions from curious individuals.
So I should remind myself that E.F.A. is a festival of the artS, plural, and not of art, singular. Accordingly, several stages had been set up for musical, dance, and other performances of all varieties. On the main stage at the north end of the festival, I saw some folk rock, some classic rock, and some high school-​aged dancers. On a more southern stage was another set of performers. Nestled right next to a church was a third performance space where I saw an African drum troupe accompanied by a gentleman rapidly spinning metal spheres with sticks. (See my attached pictures.) I can’t tell you how cool it felt to stumble from one performance to the next, to the next, how thrilled I was to go from interesting, to more interesting, to more interesting, to rue one act finishing only to learn that something yet cooler had popped up elsewhere. The emphasis on performance is definitely stronger than at Allentown.
Like Allentown, E.F.A. had set up something of a food court for people to get their munch on. Unlike Allentown though, most of the food offerings seemed to be provided by local restaurants and caterers with brand names and reputations. Food trucks were absent, but Sun Restaurant was quite busy, assuming a place of clout between Ristorante Lombardo and Mineo & Sapio. Most of the food was served in eco-​friendly wrappers.
But who needs catered food on this strip? The entire Elmwood Village community was doing gangbusters business. Blue Monk and Acropolis, among others, offered festival specials. D’Avolio, like many other businesses, set up a station immediately outside of its store to allow potential customers to sample its products and learn more about the establishment. Heck, the Unitarian Universalist Church opened its doors to showcase the handmade works of U.U. members. Like the Allentown Art Festival, the name isn’t just a name. The Elmwood Festival of the Arts is an occasion for all of Elmwood to open their doors (to accept money, admittedly) and show people who they are.
The Festival does suffer from one significant flaw, that of capacity. While Taste of Buffalo and the Allentown Art Festival shut down wide streets for their durations, E.F.A. shuts down Elmwood Avenue, a much narrower street. While that narrowness is a key part of the Elmwood Village’s charm 362 days a year, it means that straits of passage clog even early in the day on both days of the weekend, let alone later in the afternoon as more revelers shuttle into the area.
Judging by the narrative I have heard thus far, I believe that the Elmwood Festival of the Arts is on track for much bigger and better things in the years ahead. Personally, I can’t wait to see how it evolves.