Big Changes Coming to the Largest Arts Festival in Central Mass.

Friday, June 01, 2012

Ashley Klann, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

The largest arts festival in Central Mass. grows each year, and to celebrate its tenth anniversary in September, stART on the Street is moving its spring edition to the Canal District. The masterminds behind the event are hoping the venue change will bring a new direction and highlight a unique, thriving part of the city.

On Sunday, June 3rd over 150 local artists will fill the roads near Green Street between Temple and Madison along with rafts, performances, activities, kid-friendly fun, and music. A full food court will also be on site offering many delights including vegan options.

A New Scene

“I think for us it’s a new and upcoming area in the city and we like to shed light on areas in the city like that. It reaches different demographic. This is bringing us into a whole new neighborhood,” said Co-Director Tina Zlody who has been with the cause since it started. She and the other counterparts are excited to bring 30,000+ people to the new venue.

“It’s really up and coming. It shows that a community group – The Blackstone Canal Task Force – has done a lot in advocating for the area. Businesses are strong. There are great restaurants.”

Worry not – the change in venue for the spring edition of stART on the Street doesn’t mean that the original Park Ave. location is done. CanalFest will also be back in action in the summer.

A New Role

With the new location, one stART on the Street veteran is switching things up in another way.

“Whether someone is selling art or doing an interactive performance, which is what I will be doing. Either way, you’re always trying to engage the goer,” said artist Sampson Wilcox who will be helping organize a demo. “One distinct difference for me this year – it’s less about me as an artist and more about me giving back to the community. StART has been really helpful to me in the past and so I want to be good to it.”

Wilcox, who has sold art at stART on the Street in years past will be changing his role in this year’s event from purveyor of art to coordinating an interactive graffiti wall.

What to Expect

Those who have ventured to the annual street fair on Park Ave. will be used to a more linear format, but this year’s festival is slated to challenge that design in favor of a more “urban” set up.

“You’ll get to really explore the area. It’s not going to be a really straight shot. You’ll get to go into the parking lots to see interactive displays and explore the neighborhood,” Zlody said. “We want people to think outside their normal box of a straight shot street festival. This is going to be a really urban street festival.”

A quick glance will show you that the layout of the Worcester’s Canal District is a little more convoluted than the straight line of Park Ave. “Logistically, this is an interesting street to work on,” Zlody said. “That’s what we wanted. We don’t want to give you the same festival over again. I want people to keep their eyes and ears open to all the nooks and crannies.”

“There’s definitely a more difficult layout. It’s fluid, not as intuitive as you move through the space,” Wilcox said. “We tried to be strategic about where we place things and moving people in and out of spaces. That’s a big part of this graffiti wall. We were working with a dead end, but here, there’s something to draw you in and help you interact with it.”

“We want to get people to know a different part of their city,” she said. Indeed Worcester is a city with many neighborhoods to get to know.

Keep Coming Back

“I love doing stART because I feel that it highlights so much of how awesome Worcester is – the people and the places and food and performers,” Zlody said. “I keep coming back because every time we do it, we stand back and say, ‘Wow, look what eleven people did.’ I look at the faces of the people. It comes with its stresses, but it balances out on the end.”

“Worcester is very eclectic. That’s why we like moving spring around to different places. It’s got so much talent and diversity. Spring is mobile, but like our Park Ave. edition, it became such a perfect fit.”

Supporting the Arts

Due to the large amount of backing it takes to put on the festival, the stART crew is asking for an optional $1 donation this year to help off-set their costs.