The Daily Collegian
Other art options offered
By Paul Osolnick
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Featuring more than 165 artists
from across Pennsylvania, the
18th Annual People’s Choice
Festival of Pennsylvania Arts and
Crafts showcases a broad swath
of the state’s culture.
The festival will be held from
Thursday to Sunday on the
grounds of the Pennsylvania
Military Museum in Boalsburg.
Diana Stapleford, the festival's
marketing director, said she
expects between 95,000 and
100,000 people to attend the event,
which features crafts and works
for art enthusiasts of all budgets,
high or low.
“There is something for every
one,” Stapleford said. “You can
walk out of there with a purchase
and you can spend anywhere
from $5 to $5,000."
Stapleford said George and
Nancy Marion originally created
the festival was, in an effort to
Courtesy of peoplescholcefestlval.com
The People’s Choice Festival draws thousands of people each year.
Steph Witt/Collegian
Workers take a break after setting up interactive displays at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts,
which will take place from July 7011 in downtown State College.
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bring the focus back to
Pennsylvanian artists after the
Central Pennsylvania Festival of
the Arts began to bring in artists
from across the country through
an exclusive invitation process.
The crafts available at the festi
val are made from a wide variety
of materials including leather,
clay, fabric and glass, Stapleford
said, and items range from bas
kets to jewelry.
Stapleford said festival organiz
ers will also give away a four-pack
of amusement park tickets once an
hour for every hour of the festival.
While the festival is intended
for all ages, it provides several
activities specifically geared
toward younger participants.
With activities and attractions
like a hands-on science museum,
face painting and tie-dye booths, a
12-foot T-rex dinosaur sculpture
and inflatable bounce jumpers,
children at the festival will have a
variety of options for their enter
tainment.
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ARTS FEST
If you go
What: People’s Choice Festival
of Pennsylvania Arts and Crafts
When: July 8-11
Where: Pennsylvania Military
Museum grounds, Boalsburg
Details: Arts festival featuring
food vendors and live enter
tainment
The festival will also feature a
youth artisan tent displaying chil
dren’s arts and crafts for sale.
Stapleford said the festival will
put on a character day Saturday
that will include the Pittsburgh
Pirates’ parrot, among other
mascots.
Organizers of the festival
attempted to book Penn State’s
Nittany Lion mascot for the event
but he was unable to be reached,
Stapleford said.
Along with several food ven
dors, the festival will have a pig
roast held by Andy’s On the Go
Cafe.
The festival will also host a
booth for local growers consisting
only of foods made in Centre
County. One of the specialty food
products made in the area is wing
sauce made by Bonfatto’s
Restaurant in Bellefonte.
A new attraction to this year’s
People’s Choice festival is genre
specific concerts on Friday and
Saturday night. Friday is sched
uled as a country night featuring
Joe Bonson and Coffee Run,
while Saturday is planned as a
rock night with Hybrid Ice.
To e-mail reporter: prosoo4@psu.edu
The Arts Fest Board of Directors works year-round to plan the event.
Board readies Fest
They’re government officials,
business owners, university
administrators and community
members but they also moon
light as members of Arts Fest’s
Board of Directors.
The intensity of preparations
for the Central Pennsylvania
Festival of the Arts picks up as
July nears, but the festival’s
Board of Directors works on the
event year-round.
The primary role of the organi
zation is to act as a “sounding
board” for the festival, board
member Susan Steinberg said.
The board reviews the festival
budget, makes sure the event is
financially sound and holds work
sessions to make sure the festival
continues to meet the needs of its
patrons.
The council is made up of local
government officials, university
officials and members of the non
profit and business community so
it accurately represents State
College, Borough Council
President Ron Filippelli said.
Filippelli has been serving as a
member of the board since his
term in the State College
Borough Council.
Filipelli said it’s important to
represent the borough on the
board, because the borough and
festival are partners in putting on
the festival.
And the university representa
tives make sure the university
priorities are taken care of. Penn
State Director of Student Affairs
Damon Sims and Sally Kalin,
associate dean of the University
Libraries, both sit on the board.
Arts Fest draws business
Several local businesses will
see a boom in business when
more than 100,000 people
descend upon downtown State
College for the 44th Annual
Central Pennsylvania Festival of
the Arts.
Arts Fest crowds offer every
thing from additional boosts to a
steady business to a critical
source of revenue to businesses
operating during the summer
without their main source of
income: students.
Michael Desmond, co-owner of
the Comer Room, 100 W College
Ave., said Arts Fest provides a
helpful cash flow during the slow
est time of the restaurant’s calen
dar year.
“It’s wonderful. Our business
es wouldn’t be able to make it
through summer without Arts
Fest,” Desmond said. “It carries
us over until the students arrive
for the fall and the first football
game. In short, we make hay
when the sun shines.”
While restaurants and hotels
will receive most of the increased
income, other businesses like
clothing stores and local enter
tainment providers will benefit
from the festival as well.
“Events of this magnitude, such
as Arts Fest, always attract a large
number of visitors from outside
the region,” Nittany Mall General
Manager Lou Kanzleiter said.
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COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
By Paul Osolnick
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
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Putting together the festival is
a year-round effort, board mem
bers say. The group meets once a
month and is also in charge of
planning First Night State
College’s celebration of the New
Year.
“People in the community
sometimes think these things just
happen, but the people who work
in this office and on the board
work year-round,” Steinberg said.
Board member Katherine
Allen said most board members
volunteer to work the festival.
Allen said she is planning to do
some introductions for perform
ances and also help with the
ambassador volunteers, a group
of volunteers who watch artists’
belongings when the artists are
on break.
All of the board members say
they have personal reasons for
dedicating so much time to the
festival.
“It’s one of the best things in
the community and state and I
think it’s very valuable,”
Steinberg said.
Allen was a longtime attendee
of the event before she joined the
board three years ago.
“It’s been one of the things we
always do in the summer,” she
said. “It’s kind of a summer high
light.”
Filippelli said he only has posi
tive things to say about the festi
val.
“It’s a wonderful addition to the
community,” he said. “It’s a won
derful event for visitors and fami
lies a wonderful events in
terms of highlighting the borough
and increasing local business.”
To e-mail reporter: mers2oo@psu.edu
Kanzleiter said the mall’s dis
tance from downtown State
College is short enough to still
experience a noticeable increase
in the number of shoppers.
“Overall, most businesses do
incredibly well,” Downtown State
College Improvement District
Executive Director Jody
Alessandrine said. “It’s become a
tradition and we’re glad it’s a
part of our community.”
But while most businesses will
see increased sales from the fes
tival, there are a few businesses
that provide similar services to
those found at the booths at Arts
Pest that will face some tempo
rary competition.
“Traditionally, it’s been a huge
boom to most businesses,”
Alessandrine said.
“That being said, it has an
adverse affect on some business
es. If you happen to sell smooth
ies or chicken on a stick, you
might be challenged.”
Still, Alessandrine said the
large turnout has the potential to
remove the necessity for local
and out-of-area businesses to
compete for customers.
Despite the businesses that
will have to compete with the fes
tival, most of the downtown busi
nesses simply see Arts Fest as an
opportunity for income.
“It’s just a very pleasant, cool
week regardless of the tempera
ture,” Desmond said.
To e-mail reporter: prosoo4@psu.edu