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LET THE SUNSHINE IN. This year’s Urban Art Festival appears to have the weather on its side, as forecasters call for bright, sunny days this weekend. The festival will be held noon to dusk June 29 in Fireman’s Park, downtown Tacoma.

Summertime... and the livin' is easy at Urban Art Festival

By Matt Nagle

As of June 20, summer 2008 officially arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and with it comes the kickoff to Tacoma’s official outdoor street festival season, which includes this weekend’s Urban Art Festival on June 29.

Last year the festival got a little soggy due to rainy skies, but this year the weather prediction is much more cooperative. “I’m so excited because it’s supposed to be sunny. It’s really good news to hear,” said event booking manager and co-coordinator Matthew Eklund, one of the six-member organizing committee that includes his wife Laura Eklund, Linda Honeck, Johanna Gardner, Lisa Fruishanti and Mandi Webster-Martin. “People should bring water, sunglasses and sunscreen.”

Eklund encourages festivalgoers to choose alternate ways of getting there this year. “If you reside in downtown Tacoma, walk and don’t drive,” he said. Not only is it good for the environment, “it’ll really help free up parking for a lot of people traveling from far distances,” Eklund noted. “And please, by all means if you’re an artist, bring some paints and a canvas and paint live.”

Now in its fourth year, the Urban Art Festival is a free, all-ages community event to showcase artists, performers and musicians of all kinds, particularly those who do not often show their work to the public or are doing so for the first time. Booth rates are kept reasonable so emerging and underground artists can afford to participate, which makes this festival unlike any other and one that attracts all kinds of different people in a festive atmosphere of inclusion and creativity.

Held in Fireman’s Park at 803 ‘A’ St. from noon to dusk, the location above Commencement Bay in downtown Tacoma offers glorious panoramic views of the bay and a brilliant backdrop of Mt. Rainer in the city’s distance. Rain or shine, the festival goes on and each year those who step out to take part always seem to have a great time dancing to live music and DJs, visiting the many vendor booths, and watching artists at work blowing glass, painting or selling their wares.

This year the festival has some new things in store including a sushi booth courtesy of Jazzbones. “Anybody who’s had sushi at Jazzbones knows it’s delicious,” Eklund said.

The organizers have also invited Artifakt to celebrate urban culture and graffiti art at the festival. Artifakt is a Seattle-based arts group and clothing designer that aims to promote up and coming artists and musicians in a variety of styles and genres. Artifakt’s multi-genre art shows fuse visual and performance art to create a positive environment that fosters artistic expression and mutual appreciation (www.artifaktart.org).

As part of their participation in the festival, Artifakt will be overseeing a huge graffiti wall measuring more than 40-feet tall. Four Seattle and Tacoma-based artists will be working on it, and Eklund expressed hope that a downtown business owner will step forward and allow the finished wall to be installed in or on their building. “I’d love to see it on a business owner’s building,” he said.

Music will be a highlight of the day. “We have a whole slew of DJs this year on two stages,” Eklund said, a house stage and a drum and bass stage. There will be two additional music stages as well offering other types of music performances: the funk/groove jam band Flowmotion, the roots rock of Joshua Kane Band, Sister Monk’s world groove and alternative power-pop group Don’t Tell Sophie, among others.

Festival organizers will continue accepting applications for artist’s booths up to the day of the event. Information on this and everything about the festival is available at www.urbanartfestival.net. Volunteers are also needed for set-up the night before and/or tear down after the festival closes. E-mail Johanna at johanisbrg@yahoo.com.

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