For a few hours on an April afternoon, local artists and musicians will gather to celebrate what they do best – exhibit artwork and play music. Tuscaloosa residents and travelers alike will have the opportunity to join in the festivities.
On April 5, the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission will host the fifth annual Druid City Arts Festival. The festival brings together artists and musicians from across the area. Sixty to 65 artists pay $25 for a 10 x 10 space to sell their work for the day. Various musicians perform every hour during the festival.
Local artist Beverly Mabry looks forward to the event, which began as a Creative Campus project and has grown over the years.
“I’d say it’s quadrupled in size,” Mabry said. “It’s almost the size of some things here in Birmingham.”
A representative from the Tourism and Sports Commission said the group hopes the event will bring people from all over the region to Tuscaloosa. The program fits into the group’s goal of increasing tourism in the Tuscaloosa area, and members of the group say they hope it grows even more in the future.
“We exist so we can have an effect on the Tuscaloosa economy,” Brandt Garrison, manager of communications for the commission, said.
This will be the first year the commission hosts the festival alone, Garrison said. Last year, the group partnered with Creative Campus, who founded the event in 2010. The event will feature local bands performing a variety of genres of music. The registration process for musicians is different from the process for artists, which Garrison said is to ensure diversity in the lineup.
The Doctors and The Lawyers, a Tuscaloosa band that participated last year, hopes to have the opportunity to participate again.
“The event does a good job in giving the general public the opportunity to experience local music. The more exposure each band gets allows for an increased musical awareness throughout the community,” Brass Hannah Bralley, the band’s manager, said. “We got our start by playing smaller local venues – bars, private parties and the like – and last year’s event really helped us reach a demographic for which we normally would not have had the opportunity to play.”
As part of the commission’s goal to include the entire community, an area of the festival will be dedicated to children’s activities. All of the artwork on display will be appropriate for families. Additionally, the festival is looking for volunteers to help put on the free event.
“They’re great days for community participation,” Mabry said. “They’re really trying to develop the arts scene there.”
The registration deadline for artists is March 28. The registration deadline for musicians is Feb. 14, and the lineup will be announced Feb. 28. Volunteers can register at druidcityartsfestival.com/volunteers.
