Southlake, Euless hosting fun festivals this weekend

There is no shortage of festivals in Northeast Tarrant County this weekend.

Southlake’s 16th Art in the Square, featuring artists, live music, food trucks and more, begins Friday and continues through Sunday at Town Square on Southlake Boulevard.

And in Euless, Arbor Daze, featuring live entertainment, family-fun and tree giveaways, is Friday and Saturday.

Austin artist David Bjurstrom was given the People’s Choice Award at Art in the Square and he and 159 other artists will be selling their work at the festival. The Southlake Women’s Club hosts the event, which benefits 26 non-profits, such as the Alliance for Children and the Tarrant Area Food Bank.

Bjurstrom said his artwork, with its monochromatic tones, usually sets him apart from other displays.

“I can be at a show and there might be one other person doing all pencil work, most likely not,” he said.

Arbor Daze is switching this year from Saturday-Sunday to Friday-Saturday and is calling itself “The Ultimate Family Festival.”

The city has slowed the beat of its festival, compared with what it was at its 1989 inception, said Suzanne Henderson, Euless recreation manager.

“We’ve transitioned more into a community festival rather than the big Arbor Daze we used to have,” she said. “We would have more than 200,000 visitors at a festival that ran three full days and took every city employee and 500 to 800 community volunteers to run.”

One thing that hasn’t changed — and probably never will — is the tree giveaway. For its 26th year, the festival that has given away more than 150,000 trees has grown 3,500 red oak saplings from acorns picked up in Euless, and will hand them out as long as they last, Henderson said.

Correspondent Terry Evans contributed to this report.

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Southlake, Euless hosting fun festivals this weekend."