Yesterday afternoon, I walked from my condo across from the University of Denver to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. This is one of the top art festivals in the country, and usually takes place around the 4th of July. However, last year it was canceled due to the coronavirus, and postponed this year until the Labor Day weekend. Another change was that the festival was moved this year from the streets of Cherry Creek North (Denver's chicest shopping district) to the parking lot of the old Cherry Creek Shopping Center, a few blocks to the south. The food booths and music stage were located on the outdoor concourse of the old center, as seen in the photograph on the left, while all the artist's booths were in that parking lot. The art was top notch, but I must say the ambiance definitely has suffered. The streets of Cherry Creek North are filled with fancy shops, classy restaurants, and lots of trees and benches. And shade. Lots of shade.
Even though the art was good, the parking lot was charmless, and pretty damn hot. I can usually take the heat, but even I felt it yesterday. However, it was definitely worth it. I especially liked the photography, and a number of the photographers (in fact, the majority) were from the Chicago area. There were very impressive photographs of a ruined church on the South Side of Chicago, some artsy black and white scenes of the city, evocative portraits of people from the South Side, and even a series of very good photographs of Cuba by James Cole, a travel photographer from Plainfield, Illinois, just southwest of Chicago. His booth can be seen in the photograph on the right. I really enjoyed this festival, but next year, I hope it returns to Cherry Creek North, Covid or no Covid.
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