Cape Coral Art and Music Festival sees big turnout
City streets were packed by tens of thousands of guests over the weekend, soaking in the sights, sounds and tastes of the 34th annual Cape Coral Arts and Music Festival.
A mass of people filled Cape Coral Parkway, which had been shut down for the event, perusing the 306 separate art exhibitions lining either side of the street. Brian Smith, a member of the Rotary Club of Cape Coral, who organizes the event, served as this year’s operations manager. According to Smith, 95 businesses joined the 306 art exhibits this year, not including the dozens of food vendors and local restaurants who were out on the street, offering visitors a taste of Cape Coral.
Smith estimated that around 120,000 people attended the festival over two days, which would make for the largest turnout in the history of the event, and Rotary members plan on investing the money earned back into the community.
“Rotary is a charitable organization, so we give it back to the community,” said Smith. “Every bit of money earned goes into a foundation, and then we are able to turn that into scholarships, [money] for our parks, other projects. Every bit we raise goes back into the community.”
Traveling from booth to booth, the type of art displayed varies widely. Standards like photography, sculpture, oil paintings and watercolors are joined by colorful arrangements of geodes, highly ornate mechanical water fountains and beautifully crafted custom cookware.
The artists themselves vary widely. Some are lifelong journeyman who travel the country, showing their wok. Many are locals, taking their first steps into the world of professional art.
Tyler Henatay of Storm Cloud Artworks began painting when he was young, but has recently returned to hobby after many years away. He and his wife, Jessica, moved to Southwest Florida three years ago, and Tyler has used the Cape Coral Art and Music Festival, along with many other local event such as farmers markets, as a platform for the local artists to share his unique wooden paintings.
Visitors could also get a little bit of the unexpected out on the street, like meeting Fluffy, a massive Burmese python. Fluffy’s handler, Bob King, was at the festival with the 3-year-old snake to promote his latest venture, Beyond the Scale Reptiles, making educational demonstrations at events like corporate functions and birthday parties
Nathan Craig, a professional metal sculptor who was spending his second year at the festival, said that he was impressed by the local turnout. After facing a downturn during the recession, Craig picked up the art of metalworking four years ago and has begun visiting local festivals as a way to supplement his income.
“It’s a good, large show, a lot of patrons and visitors,” said Craig. I’m very impressed with it.”