Learn these Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival essentials

The Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival is the city’s biggest spring party, stretching over four days and from one end of downtown (the convention center) to the other (the courthouse).

More than 200 artists will compete in the juried show, with everything from jewelry and sculpture to metalwork and giant mobiles.

The fest also has tons of live music, fabulous fair food, craft beer and wine, and, yes, activities for the kids.

In other words, this isn’t just a fly-by festival where you’ll spend a few minutes or a few dollars. So there are some essentials you need to know.

Lucky for you, we at DFW.com and the Star-Telegram have been going to the Main St. fest for a few decades now (this is the fest’s 31st year), so let us drop a little knowledge on you.

It’ll help with your Street cred.

 

How to get there

▪ There will be some parking downtown, but it will be tough to come by, especially on busy weekend days. Go to www.fortworthparking.com to check out the options.

Note that some streets will be closed including Main between Second and Third streets, Main between Fourth and Ninth, Ninth Street from Houston to Commerce, Eighth Street from Houston to Main, Houston Street northbound from Ninth to Eleventh.

So don’t come downtown expecting to cruise through the heart of the city. The festival is called Main St. for a reason; that’s where all the fun happens. For more information, go to http://bit.ly/MainStClosures

▪ There are park-and-shuttle rides between Farrington Field and Billy Bob’s Texas lots to Main Street 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday. The fare is $3 adults and $5 for two adults; children under 12 are free with parent or guardian.

▪ Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) and TRE are offering expanded service to help those from points east to get to the fest. The TRE will run for the four days of the festival, including Sunday. Train passengers are dropped off at Jones and Ninth streets downtown, a short walk from Main Street.

▪ Bikes can be parked at the Bike Corral at Houston and Seventh streets. It will be overseen by cyclists from the Fort Worth Bicycle Association and Bicycles Inc.

Hours are 3-8 p.m. Thursday, 1-8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday. The city’s bike-sharing system has 14 bike-sharing stations within walking distance of the festival. Festivalgoers can enter promo code “76102” for half-off a 24-hour membership. www.fortworthbikesharing.org.

When to go

▪  Official hours are 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday, but artists will typically close booths by 8 p.m. We recommend browsing early, say Friday at lunchtime, and circling back to buy your art on Sunday — the best day to get a deal.

There will be music throughout the day, but most of the best acts will perform in the evenings. (See music highlights below.)

▪ Download the free app from http://bit.ly/MainStiPhoneApp and check out maps, entertainment schedules, artists’ booth numbers and bios, and other essential information.

▪ Leave Fido at home. There are thousands of people downtown for the festival, and pets are not allowed unless they’re service dogs.

▪ And don’t forget to check the weather. April showers are always looming this time of year, and forecasts are for some rain Saturday and more likely Sunday. Cross your fingers that Mother Nature won’t rain on our Main St. parade.

Where and what to eat

We don’t like to brag, but our expertise in fair food is pretty unparalled. Here are some must-have dishes at Main St. this year:

▪ Schmidt’s Bahama Mama with German potato salad and sauerkraut (13 tickets). This totally awesome spicy sausage is the thing we look forward to eating each year. The jumbo cream puff is a must, too, but not at the same meal. Pace yourself!

▪ The giant smoked turkey legs at Riscky’s Barbecue are also a Main St. staple (10 tickets); big enough to share with a couple of friends.

▪ Eat local: Buttons and Thai Tina’s both have booths this year. Chef Keith Hicks will have his famous shrimp and “gritz” (8 tickets) and you can never go wrong with chicken on a stick (6) from Thai Tina’s.

▪  A few more delicacies to try: Fletcher’s famous corny dogs and funnel cakes (8, 9 tickets); fried mac-n-cheese (6) at Taste of Cuba; roasted corn on a stick (5); and Lone Star cinnamon roasted nuts (7).

▪  The craft brew garden is back this year, but it’s sponsored by Blue Moon, so there aren’t many local craft beer makers represented, other than a few popular Rahr options.

▪ Main Street food ain’t cheap, and you’ll need coupons. Lots of ’em. They’re $10 for a strip of 10. Or you can buy a bundle of 240 coupons for $228. But tickets are not refundable, so buy them wisely.

▪ Several free water-filling stations will be on-site. You can bring your own bottle or buy a Main St. commemorative bottle for 10 tickets.

The music: Who’s playing

There are more than 100 musical acts spread out over multiple stages: the UT-Arlington Main Stage, Ninth and Main streets; the Sundance Square Plaza Stage; Star-Telegram Performing Arts Stage, Fifth and Main streets; and the Frost “Locals Only” stage, Seventh and Main streets.

Here are some highlights:

Marcia Ball (8:30 p.m. Thursday, UTA main stage); Marc Broussard (8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sundance Square); Squonk Opera-Pneumatica Show (9 p.m. Thursday, Star-Telegram stage); Cliburn pianist Fei-Fei Dong (5 p.m. Friday, Sundance Square); Band of Heathens (7 p.m. Friday, main stage); Luke Wade (9 p.m. Friday, main stage); UTA Jazz Ensemble (11 a.m. Saturday, main stage); UTA Jazz Orchestra (12:30 p.m. Saturday, main stage); Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (5 p.m. Saturday, Sundance Square); Poo Live Crew (5 p.m. Saturday, main stage); the Killdares (7 p.m. Saturday, Sundance Square); Joey Green (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Frost stage); Maceo Parker (9 p.m. Saturday, main stage); Me and My Monkey (2:30 p.m. Sunday, main stage); and the Chris Watson Band (5 p.m. Sunday, Frost stage).

For more information, go to www.mainstreetartsfest.org.

What to buy?

About 1,400 artists apply to get into Main St., but only 215 are selected to display their work at the juried fair. So this is the cream of the crop, and their art doesn’t come cheap.

But it’s free to gawk at the kinetic sculpture of Andrew Carson, whose whimsicle and colorful pieces always attract a crowd, or the wildly imaginative wood art of Terry Evans.

Or if you want to help a fellow Texan, check out the beautiful photos of Robin Renee Hix, whose dreamy seascapes are mostly shot with a toy plastic camera. Hix, who is from Wimberly, was a victim of last year’s storms and floods.

She lost her home and 30-plus years of negatives, art supplies, photographs and personal effects, according to her website. Hix was out of town when the flood hit, she told The New York Times, and when she returned her 1950s vintage home was a total loss, her van had vanished and her 1981 El Camino was overturned in the yard. But she did find her 41-year-old Texas tortoise, she told the Times. “I’ve had him since he was an egg.”

You can do some pre-shopping at mainstreetartsfest.org/experience-main-st./the-art/. Most artists accept credit cards, and don’t forget that none of the exhibitors like to leave with everything they brought to Fort Worth, so there should be some deals to be had Saturday or Sunday, especially if the rains keep festival attendance at bay.

New this year, you can vote for your favorite artist by going on the Main St. Facebook page starting Friday and continuing through the end of the festival. The first-ever People’s Choice Award winner will be announced Monday.

Happy Main Streeting.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Learn these Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival essentials."