At 18 years old, Langley’s Arts Alive festival has most definitely come of age.
The annual downtown street party, held Saturday on the Fraser Highway one-way, drew not only its largest crowds yet, but the greatest number of participating artists and artisans to the day-long event.
Organizer Teri James estimated that between 18,000 and 20,000 visitors strolled the grounds throughout the course of the day.
Although, the executive director of the Downtown Langley Merchants Association admits, her polling technique is decidedly unscientific.
Each year, James watches a crosswalk for 15 minutes and counts the number of people who come and go and uses the figure to extrapolate overall attendance
By her estimation, this year’s crowd was half again as big as last year’s.
There were several reasons, apart from the clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine, for the event’s popularity, James believes.
“The integrity of the show continues to go up,” she said. “We had to turn away 10 good artists because there was no space.”
Organizers capped the number of jewelry makers who could participate this year, in order to allow for a greater range of styles and mediums.
In all, 45 artists took part, and visitors were able to watch a blacksmith in action as well as glass blowing and pottery throwing.
“There were lots of demonstrations, which made it really exciting,” James said.
The committee will look at expanding the area of the festival next year to accommodate the demand, she added.
“If sheer numbers are any indication, we’ll be looking at well over 200 vendors applying next year.”
Following the street fair, visitors were invited to stick around for a live production of As You Like It, in nearby Douglas Park.
The play was “a natural fit,” said James. “I think it contributed to people being (at Arts Alive) longer.”
Normally, the crowd has thinned out considerably by 4 p.m., she said, but this year, there were still a large number of people on site when the event wrapped up at 5 p.m.
From the perfect summer weather, to the wide variety of artistic mediums on display, professional musicians entertaining around the site, great volunteers and sponsors and a live play to cap off the day — “as an event co-ordinator, you can’t ask for better,” said James.
