Sidewalk Arts Festival Celebrates 54 Years and Still Going Strong!

Summer is drawing to a close and that means it's time, once again, for one of the area's longest running festivals. The 54rd Annual Sidewalk Arts Festival is Saturday, September 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to this fun-filled day is FREE.

This year marks the 12th year the festival takes place on the downtown streets surrounding the Washington Pavilion: Main and Dakota Avenues between 10th and 12th Streets, 11th Street from Main west to Minnesota Avenue and in the parking lots south of the Pavilion.

More than 300 fine art, folk art, craft, nonprofit and food booths are scheduled to take part. This event is a fundraiser for the Visual Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion and is the region's largest one-day arts festival.

The Visual Arts Center will be open with free admission. Additionally, there will be several great activities for children in the Children's Studio, located on Main Avenue, just east of the Washington Pavilion.

At 10:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m., Visual Arts Center Director Jason Folkerts will be presenting How to Draw Superheroes for a special outdoor cartooning demonstration.

Children's Studio community partners include the following

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sioux Empire

· Girl Scouts Dakota Horizons

· JAM Art & Supplies

· Lutheran Social Services

· Sanford fit

· SDSU Extension - Lincoln & Minnehaha 4-H

· Sioux Falls Family YMCA

· Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation

· Washington Pavilion CLC

· Washington Pavilion CLC Info table

· Washington Pavilion KSDC Rockets

The Great Western Bank parking ramp will be converted into a food court with several food and beverage vendors. Additional FREE entertainment will be offered in the Nelson Amphitheater located at the corner of Main and 11th. The schedule is as follows:

Time Artist/Group

9-9:40 a.m. Sioux Empire Community Theatre

9:45-10:15 a.m. Singing Boys of Sioux Falls

10:20-10:50 a.m. LiRa Dance Company

10:55-11:25 a.m. Sound Cascade - Sweet Adeline Chorus

11:30-11:50 a.m. BritZa Dance

11:55 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Bella Gorda Guitar Ensemble of Sioux Falls

12:30-1:45 p.m. Mogen's Heroes

1:50-2:20 p.m. charActors

2:25-3:10 p.m. Good Night Theatre Collective

3:15-4:00 p.m. Kirby Science Discovery Center

Major sponsors of the Sidewalk Arts Festival include: Bank Midwest, Billion Automotive Scion, Howalt-McDowell Insurance, AARP, Washington Square, Argus Leader, Bath Fitter, Dynamic Spine Chiropractic Health Center, Gardner's Wisconsin Cheese and Highest Health Chiropractic. In-kind sponsors include Party Land, Lacey Rentals Inc., Coffea, Pepsi and Waste Management. Pop booths will be sponsored by First Premier Bank Premier Bankcard, Citi, Wells Fargo and Docutap. Media Sponsor is Midwest Communications.

The Washington Pavilion is the region's home for the arts, entertainment and science. Located in a beautifully renovated historic building in downtown Sioux Falls, it is one of only a few facilities in the world to bring together under one roof the performing arts, visual arts and interactive science. The vast array of high quality programming and educational activities available through the Husby Performing Arts Center, Kirby Science Discovery Center, Visual Arts Center and the Community Learning Center ensures that people of all ages and walks of life can rely upon the Washington Pavilion to entertain, inspire, educate and enrich. There is, indeed, something for everyone here. For information about our programs, please call (605) 367-7397 or, (toll free) at 1-877-Wash Pav or visit our website at www.washingtonpavilion.org.