♪The Arts & Jazz Fest: A Multi Sensory Experience and Beloved Denton Mainstay♫
Those familiar with Denton, Texas and its lively melting-pot culture already know what a visit to the annual Arts & Jazz Festival entails. For the uninitiated, here's a tiny slice of a visit to one of the city's most well known yearly events from the perspective of an area native.
Arts & Jazz - A Bit of Background
The Denton Arts & Jazz Festival is a $0 admission event held during the last weekend of April each year. This seasonal favorite showcases musicians and artists from all across Denton County and beyond.
The festival features live music on seven stages, more indoor exhibition space than an Olympic swimming pool, and dozens of different food vendors in six food courts. Thanks to the festival's numerous corporate sponsors, the Denton Festival Foundation is able to produce this popular event free of charge every year, which attracts people near and far from all varieties of life.
What a day!
Arts & Jazz – A Bit of the Action
Arts & Jazz 2018 played out in its typical fashion. As usual, many of the attendees were new university students, empty-nesters, and young families. For group entertainment, this event is a cheap weekend of fun compared to the amusement park or the family science museum.
For those who enjoy observing the human in his casual outdoor environment, this place is a shimmering smorgasbord of action.
The festival starts on Friday midday and is open through the weekend (closing each night). We went on Friday evening around dusk and again Saturday afternoon. Friday night attendance was much lower than the rest of the weekend, and the weather was nice and cool compared to Saturday's abundant sunshine.
Facial expression: end of Friday night
Saturday afternoon is always jumpin' at the Arts n Jazz Fest
Obligatory fried things vendor
Oreo topped with cookie dough, battered, fried. Everything it sounds like it would be and more.
Mr. Stilt's been doin' this for over 20 years. He has achieved balance in his life.
Park People - Arts n Jazz style
Bonus Section: Saying farewell to The Cupboard
One of Denton's favorite stops for natural foods and supplements is now only a fading memory. This discovery was made on Friday night, where a small camp of homeless folks was setting up for the night under what used to be the shipping and receiving area as we were pulling in to park for the nearby festival.
Further research into the matter revealed competition from new brick and mortar stores in town, coupled with Amazon's cheap, fast delivery of vitamins and dietary supplements is what drove the good old Cupboard out of town and into the record books in March 2018.
C'est la vie
Still left wondering the what fate holds for this beauty. It'll always be there, sunny in my mind.
There are much worse places to hunker down for the night. Also much better places...
Feeling slightly eerie in the daylight. Maybe that was just me.
Cheer up. We saved you a seat for next year's Arts & Jazz Festival.
Sources:
https://dentonjazzfest.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denton_Arts_and_Jazz_Festival
http://www.thedentonite.com/food/cupboard-denton-closes
Personal experience
Want more Park People? You're in luck.
Park People April 2018
Sketch Dump March 2018
What's the last festival you attended?
What do you enjoy doing outdoors where you live?
Thanks for stopping by. Time for me to dance like a voxel!
^^voxel art gif by @ fabiyamada^^
What a grand day out, it looks like some fun indeed.
Is there anything MORE American than a fried twinkee? My teeth hurt just typing it out. :)
A close second to the old familiar duo of baseball and apple pie. ☺
Are there any seaside festivals you attend? Seems like a real "lobster fest" (opposed to a certain seafood restaurant chain's "Lobster Fest") would be right at home in your area. Maybe I'm thinking in shades of stereotypes?
We do have many seaside festivals, scallop fest quahog fest etc. I'm not one for crowds, so I don't often go, but I LOVE hosting small lobster/seafood roasts at my house. We are lucky to have mussels and steamers and even oysters readily available in our shores (we even have old family clam rakes and baskets). I love lobster and seafood and even the mussel, which isn't as prized, makes the best chowder (new england style which is cream based as opposed the tomato version in Manhattan).
I have gone to a few of our local things, mostly to people watch, though once a friend and I tried the odd fried items. I don't like twinkees even not fried (I think they are barely food as is) but I had a snickers bar fried and it was so sweet I couldn't eat it so I gave it to her. I DO love fried pickles however. But, alas, I am now pretty much carb free, so I'd probably just enjoy the aroma of a 'fried thing' but not bother eating it.
No, I'd say most of the seaside stereotypes are pretty spot on for my area, lobster roll shacks all the roads in summer. Plenty of gift shops with shells and seaside things for sale and local artists markets and pop ups selling their sea inspired wares. It's a great place to be in the Summer, but I love cheesy things so it just suits me :)
Sounds like your summers are relaxing and casual by the seaside. Although I am from Texas, I grew up on Long Island, and I have many fond memories of beach-combing from when I was a girl.
Yes, fried things are in a category all their own. There were very few healthful options at the festival, not so surprisingly. Like you with your fried Snickers, I was turned off by the fried Oreo concoction, and yet it still drew us in.
The touristy beach areas can be the most fun! Myrtle Beach is coming to mind, though it's got its own sorta flavor, separate from your neck of the woods. Take care, Happy Friday ☺
I had no idea about this festival, but you look stunning with those braids and those buttered cookies YUMMY. GIVE IT TO ME.
Oh, you may have all of those devilish fried cookies, by all means! Fried sugar overload. There was a limited selection of food options for those interested in lighter cuisine. Then again, most folks don't go to that kind of festival looking for a salad! We ate some excellent grilled vegetable tacos on Friday, and I conveniently left my phone in the car that evening, so just memories.
Thank you for stopping by to have a look, I appreciate you. ☺
Best combo. Jazz and art😍 hope you had a fun day! Especially those creative foods... didn't know bacon could go with oreos😨
Thanks for stopping by, yes it was a memorable day for sure. Creative food! That's one way to put it, yes. There is no shortage of imaginative things battered and fried, especially at festivals and fairs. Another vendor at one of the other food courts was selling fried shark on a stick and fried alligator tail on a stick. I passed on tasting those. That sounds so gruesome!! ( ﾟ Дﾟ)
Yes, some foods you need to grew up with. In my place, frog meat is sold at near by supermarket! Frozen meat section!! I just give side glance, no courage to try it.
＼(>_<)／
Believe it or not, I have seen frog meat at a grocery store here, in another part of the country, near the ocean. I also side glanced it and kept walking!
😂😂😂
The festival looks like my kind of shebang. A whole lot of fun. And who's not loving all the fried everything's? Never heard of a fried Oreo, but why not? To date, elephant ears are my biggest joy of the fried world. Seems rather tame by comparison.
Love your drawings, they have so much life and more whimsy in them. (I must like whimsy). Do you do them all on paper? Then photograph them? I probably should know that, but Mr. Memory here, can't quite pull it out of the graymatter mire. Then again, I've read a couple of posts on here in the last 18 months. And I'm sticking to that excuse. And what a ride it's been.
I'm always a bit sad when classic places like the store go out of business after a long time. Particularly if they're driven out by todays' world. Sad, but I guess a reality of today's world. But I don't have to LIKE it.
I've been to a festival here in the NW called the Oregon Country Fair. Not county fair, but COUNTRY fair. It is almost in-describable. Looks very similar in scope and fun-meter levels. Though no fried Oreos or Twinkies. Sigh. Thanks for sharing a fun day out. Cheers.
The fried Oreos we ate were very soft and kind of mushy inside their crispy batter shells. That might have been from the cookie dough though. I am surprised a little to hear there are no fried Twinkies or Oreos at the big CountRy fair. Do they sell more traditional fare like popcorn and turkey legs? Or is it more healthful? At the State Fair of Texas it the more unusual a fried food is the more it's touted. Been quite a few years since I've been to that one.
For these plain ink on paper sketches I take a picture in the best light I can find and then edit to make the lines clearer. I used to use a scanner, but it's kind of a hassle because it's slow and old. Camera phone seems to do better IMO.
The Cupboard started in Denton around 50 years ago. There are two large universities and a large demographic of earth aware people in town, so they had a following for sure. I didn't expect to see they were closed since we'd been in there earlier this spring. But then again they had super high prices and minimal selection compared to the newer stores, so...what can ya do? Ideally I would go grocery shopping in my back yard :D
Thank you for your words and your support!
Shopping in the back yard is the best. I just whacked a bunch of edible weeds, to make room for more garden. Sad, but that's the way it goes, I suppose. The whole Cupboard story is a bit sad, and commentary about our life of today.
You might want to check out the latest DD post, it has a bit of you in it. FINALLY got to the Sip N' Smoke post. I'm SO slow. At least I'm steady. ?? Hoping you have a Sublime Sunday.
Just caught it! Thanks for letting me know, I wouldn't want to miss it. Sunday was OK, Monday is better! (My favorite day of the week) ☺
Have yourself a good one, amigo!
Aww that seemed like such a nice time. I really liked your sketches too, conveyed the joy pretty well I feel.
I'm sorry about the Cupboard though, I recently lost my favorite Ithacan restaurant, The Band Wagon. I empathize with your pain :(
When a cupboard door closes, a window opens. Or something like that! Thank you for having a look, I appreciate your time :D
Of course! I've got get back into the habit of checking in on all my steemit friends :)
We all have our ebb and flow, no worries.
Sounds like a fun day. I would have tried the fried smore - I've never had a smore but I like the way they sound.
Love your sketches - they fit in so well with this post.
I enjoyed reading and seeing your photos. Nice to see you again :)
There were definitely a lot of unusual fried dessert type foods to choose from. That was my first experience with a fried Oreo, and potentially my last. A regular s'more would probably be a safer bet!
Thank you for stopping by and saying hi. I hope you've been finding fun this spring too ☺
Seems like we are really close neighbors with you here at the @gardenofeden in Arlington. We are having a festival--I have no doubt it will intrigue you!!
https://steemit.com/gardenofeden/@gardenofeden/new-dates-confirmed-with-film-crew-for-eden-metamorphosis-june-8-10-2018-the-goe
Thank you for sharing the link. @jschindler and I are making the proper arrangements to attend, and we're really looking forward to joining the festivities!
Glad you're so inspired @enternamehere. Have you heard of us before?
Yes ma'am I have, through @jschindler. This will be our first visit, ironically your last event.
No time like the present to take advantage!! Grateful we've connected.
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