Fairfield Art Walk to host ‘Blues & BBQ’ Friday

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield First Fridays Art Walk is celebrating its 19th anniversary this month.

To celebrate, the organization will offer free cookies at its booth Friday during the August Fairfield First Fridays from 6-10 p.m. in Fairfield’s Central Park.

Fairfield First Fridays Art Walk Director Marla Brader said the group would normally have a giant anniversary cake for the August Art Walk but decided with the pandemic lingering it was best to offer prepackaged cookies.

“It looks like the weather is going to be beautiful, so we’re hoping for a great turnout,” Brader said. “It won’t be long before we’re all stuck inside for winter again, so we need to enjoy the nice weather while we can.”

The theme of this month’s Art Walk is “Blues and BBQ.” The “blues” will be provided by singer-songwriter Pierce Crask, based in Chicago. Crask plays guitar and harmonica, and draws influence from Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, John Prine, Bob Dylan and others. He has been entertaining audiences professionally since 1999.

The “BBQ” will be supplied by food vendors and the numerous downtown restaurants. Art Walk will host three food vendors Friday: Sweet ‘n Saucy, Rolling Cravings (Mike & Nikki’s), and a taco food truck. Brader said Art Walk wants to ensure the restaurants have plenty of patrons and has limited the food trucks to local vendors.

“A lot of restaurants are offering takeout specials, and we don’t want to interfere with that,” Brader said.

Brader said that, not only is this Art Walk’s 19th anniversary, but the organization also passed a milestone of having hosted more than 200 events between Art Walk, free movies in Central Park and the Holiday Trade Fair.

“This would not have been possible without the help from grants, donations, volunteers, sponsors and the community,” Brader said. “I think hosting 200 events is pretty impressive.”

The free movies in Central Park were started a few years ago and have become a monthly tradition during the warm months of the year. They are shown on the third Friday of the month, starting usually between 8:30-9 p.m. depending on the sunset, with start times moving sooner in the evening as fall approaches. Art Walk has hosted two this year, and another was rained out. The next one will be Aug. 20.

Brader said turnout for the movies has been a little low, and that’s been true of the first two outdoor Art Walks, in June and July. She said it’s been difficult to track attendance at Art Walk this year because normally venues will report their door counts to her, but places that did that before, like ICON Gallery, are not doing it now.

“I can tell you I hand out 150 glow sticks to kids,” Brader said. “Our crowds have been a little less than usual, but not drastically so. Some people are still hesitant to come out.”

Brader wants to remind residents that Art Walk places portable hand-washing stations in Central Park and has four bottles of hand sanitizer throughout the park. Agri-Industrial Plastics Co. is sponsoring this month’s event. In addition to the food, arts, crafts and lawn games in Central Park, several downtown businesses and art galleries will stay open late.

After this week, residents will have two more chances to enjoy an outdoor Art Walk. The theme of the September Art Walk on Sept. 3 will be a townwide open mic. Chad Elliott, who was scheduled to perform an outdoor concert earlier this year but was rained out, will perform from 5:30-7 p.m. that night.

Art Walk’s Oktoberfest on Oct. 1 will be German-themed and will include the annual wiener dog races. Brader said she’s not sure if they will be able to hold the usual German chocolate cake contest, because it may depend on pandemic-related restrictions. She said the contest might have to be altered to asking residents to submit their best German recipes.