This Friday through Sunday at Genoa Park, you can show your support for the arts — all while listening to live music and enjoying a beverage or two — at the Riverfront Arts Festival. he festival is one of the year’s final outdoor events of its kind Downtown and it marks the perfect opportunity to check out a wide spectrum of local and regional artists representing just about every style. Come get some early holiday shopping done with artists who will come bearing one-of-a-kind creations for serious and casual art lovers alike. You might even be lucky enough to make your purchase more affordable.
Carl D. Jara
$10,000 Art Giveaway
Rocking The River
Each hour, the Riverfront Arts Festival will give away $100 in free art to six winners selected from that hour’s registrants. The winners can then redeem these “Art Buck$” certificates with participating artists during the event. All you have to do to win is enter at the festival — there will be plenty of signs directing you to the right place. In addition to the juried artists coming to Genoa Park, the festival is also showcasing and celebrating local artists from central Ohio communities for the first time. As of press time, artists from Dublin, Hilliard and Upper Arlington are confirmed, so keep an eye out for participants from your neighborhood. Ladies of Longford On hand throughout the weekend will be award-winning professional sand sculptor Carl D. Jara, who has won competitions from coast to coast, including a world championship in 2008. Stop by to see what his next creation will be. Local cycling advocacy group YAY Bikes! is hosting a bike ride Saturday morning at 9 that will depart from the festival and make its way past a number of local arts institutions. For more information, visit yaybikes.com. Additionally, Pedal Instead will have a bike corral available throughout the weekend for anybody planning on pedaling to the park.
Come down to the Riverfront Arts Festival and you can also enjoy the most fire-ific art installation of all: WaterFire Columbus. At 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, more than 30 mini-bonfires will light up the Scioto River. These will be the final two burns of WaterFire Columbus’ eighth season. Supplying the sounds this weekend will be a nonstop lineup of bands performing on the Riverfront Stage presented by Panera Bread. Leading the way are the Ladies of Longford, who on Friday night at 7:30 and 9 will bring their unique blend of traditional and contemporary Celtic music. Joining the Ladies will be Joe Moriarty and Yulia Lukyanova, a pair of traditional Irish dancers with local roots. Moriarty was just the second North American dancer to land the lead role in Riverdance, and toured with the company for 12 years. He has performed in venues ranging from Broadway to the Kremlin. Lukyanova is currently performing with the Moscow Folk Ballet Company’s production of Riverdance. Saturday night at 7:30 and 9, you can catch the Fabulous Johnson Brothers, a Columbus favorite.