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 Monday, July 7, 2008 2:55 PM CDT |
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25th sweet for Sugar Creek
NORMAL -- Besides the glow of silver, the 25th anniversary for Normal's longest-running festival will have a touch of green to it, too -- just as it did for its 24th birthday. Credit the Illinois State University quad for that color fusion. As visitors to last summer's Sugar Creek Arts Festival doubtless recall, the ongoing construction projects in the uptown area pushed the street festival westward. Part of it remained on the pavement: along North Street, from Constitution Trail westward. The rest of the fest spilled past Hovey Hall onto the quad and its leafy contours, upping the green ante considerably. That configuration will be repeated as Sugar Creek turns 25 on July 12 and 13. Of the 170 artist booths, 52 will be located on the quad, says Doug Johnson, director of the McLean County Arts Center, which co-sponsors the event with the town of Normal, the Uptown Normal Business Association and WGLT radio. Besides the artists, the quad will boast two of the event's three entertainment stages, the Quad Stage and the Theatre Stage on Hovey Steps. The only change this year will be in the number of artist booths, which swelled to an all-time festival peak in '07: a whopping 210, vs. the recent tradition of around 140 to 150. The sudden explosion proved that more can sometimes be less. Johnson called the reduction of 40 booths this year "a conscious decision -- we wanted to make sure we have right the number of artists the festival can promote for sales." With the sudden jump in numbers last year, some of the artists found that their sales heading the other direction. "It proved to be a little unwieldy," adds Steve Westerdahl, community development director for the town of Normal. "Probably because of the economy, the amount of money that people spend remained the same, but had to be spread among 210 artists instead of 170." Alison Hatcher, curator at the McLean County Arts Center, adds, "We have to protect and take care of the artists, and find a balance. While maybe some people have liked having more artists, there's a breaking point you reach where you have to keep it at a number that can be sustained by the people coming and shopping." For those who enjoy the recent quad-centric nature of the festival, it should be noted that the configuration is still a temporary one designed to wait out the completion of those uptown construction projects. "I think we'll go back to the more traditional setting that we had prior to the construction," says Johnson. "As great as it is to be on the quad, once the roundabout is done (on East Beaufort Street), we'll resume back on the original space." Westerdahl predicts the quad will be a part of the Sugar Creek fest for at least another year, possibly two at the most. "It's hard to say, since we've tried to be optimistic as far as completion dates for everything being done down here," he says. "Our optimism has not been rewarded so far." At any rate, both Westerdahl and Johnson are looking ahead to that time when the festival will return to its roots. "It's hard for me to envision what it's going to look like once we return to East Beaufort Street where it used to be," says Westerdahl. "But it will also include the (new) traffic circle and the public plaza between the Children's Discovery Museum and the multi-modal center." He expects the entertainment stage at North Street and Broadway to be relocated to that area. And since the traffic circle will be closed to traffic, vendors may be placed around its perimeter or in the grassy area inside. It will certainly mark a profound transformation from the Sugar Creek Arts Festival that debuted 25 summers ago. Westerdahl, who has been a part of the festival for 22 of those summers, likens its growth to that of "an oak tree from an acorn." In the beginning, it was the brainchild of two men, downtown Normal (when it was till downtown) business owner Kup Tcheng and ISU art department chairman Fred Mills, who died earlier this year. Over a cup of coffee, the two men concluded that some kind of downtown Normal street event was needed to get people into the business district during the summer period. "The best part of their idea," says Westerdahl, "was that they didn't want an arts and crafts show like you see at the mall; they got the McLean County Arts Center involved and it became a juried festival, with the Arts Center doing the outreach and judging entries." There was some initial resistance from the town of Normal, due to concerns over noise from the planned entertainment stage. "They'd had some difficulties with students with loud parties and had recently come up with and amplified music permit," recalls Westerdahl. "The organizers wanted to have bands and they had trouble getting the permit. So they went around and around with City Hall. It was Dave Anderson, city manager at the time, who convinced the town council the festival was a good idea." The first Sugar Creek Arts Festival boasted a now-underwhelming "35 or 40 artists," recalls Westerdahl. And the fest occupied just two blocks: North Street, from what is now Constitution Trail to Fell Avenue. "I think the biggest factor we've had over the last few years is that we've received more publicity and word-of-mouth outside the region, especially in the Chicago area," says Johnson. With that publicity has come growth and maturation. "I think what Doug has done in his time here is to take it from a local arts fest and brought it up to one of the standout art festivals around the region," adds Hatcher. "Because of that, we've been able to compete with other fairs and attract a consistently higher quality of artists." Center stage(s)Following is the entertainment lineup for the Sugar Creek Arts Festival's three entertainment stages: North Street Stage • Saturday: Sugar Creek Cloggers, 10 a.m.; Prairieland Dixie Band, 11 a.m.; Austin Found, 1 p.m.; Mike & Amy Finders, 3 p.m. • Sunday: Brian Choban Jazz Quintet, 11 a.m.; Denise LeGrassa, 12:30 p.m.; Swing Daddies, 2:30 p.m. Quad Stage • Saturday: Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project, 10:30 a.m.; Joe Metzka & Friends, 12:30 p.m.; Southside Cindy & The Sliptones, 2:30 p.m. • Sunday: Inland Island, 10:30 a.m.; Dave Chastain Band, noon; Hip Pocket, 2 p.m. Theater Stage on Hovey Steps • Saturday: Illinois Shakespeare Festival, 10 a.m.; Community Players, noon; TheatresCool, 2 p.m. • Sunday: Illinois Shakespeare Festival, 10 a.m.; Heartland Theatre, noon At a glanceWhat: 25th Annual Sugar Creek Arts Festival When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 12, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 13 Where: North Street in Uptown Normal to Illinois State University quad Admission: Free Parking: Free at any ISU decks or red-marked ground lots; also, new Town of Normal deck on College Avenue if completed in time Information number: (309) 829-0011 E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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