“It definitely brings a lot of cultural tourism to the area,” said Corinn VanWyck, the festival’s arts program coordinator. “We have many residents who obviously enjoy the festival, but we also have many, many people from across the state and beyond who come to the Greater Lansing area for this event.”

This year’s event will feature about 200 artists, which is slightly fewer than previous years because of various construction projects in the city that left festival organizers with less space for vendors to set up their booths.

Artwork such as paintings, ceramics, jewelry and drawings will be showcased, and although there will be a smaller selection than in years past, VanWyck said there still will be plenty of high quality work to enjoy.

“There’s always a good mix of people’s favorite artists returning and new stuff every year,” she said. “The work that’s there (this year) is very strong.”

Candra Boggs has been showing her mixed-media collages at the East Lansing Art Festival for about five years and she said she is looking forward to returning again this year.

Boggs, who will travel from Perrysburg, Ohio to participate in this weekend’s event, said she is excited to not only be a part of the festival but also to spend a few days in the culturally rich city.
“The environment is really great, (and) the community is really great,” she said. “It’s a fun place to go for the evening or for the weekend. We can not only enjoy the show but enjoy East Lansing too.”

Business time
While the citizens get ready for the flood of people to East Lansing, local businesses also find themselves preparing to handle the demand that comes with it.

Tim Beemer, a manager and co-owner of Cold Stone Creamery, 200 M.A.C. Ave. said the weekend of the art festival typically is the busiest two days of the year.

“It’s busier than graduation weekend, welcome weekend — it’s a crazy weekend,” he said. “Generally, I would say it’s at least double, maybe triple what we do on any other day.”

Beemer will be ready for a large amount of customers, as he will have more ice cream mix, mix-in flavors and more employees on hand to help with the rush. But with construction pushing the festival westward, Beemer is unsure if he will see the same response as in previous years when Cold Stone Creamery was situated in the heart of the action.

The construction also will affect the business of Dublin Square, 327 Abbot Road, as the new location of the festival will see food vendors setting up in the restaurant’s parking lot.

“Being right next to the art festival sometimes helps, sometimes hurts,” general manager Eric Allchin said. “It will bring people around for us, but I’m a little worried that they decided to put all the food right next to us.”

He added that in the past, Dublins has had trouble with festival patrons bringing food onto the restaurant’s patio, and the location of the vendors may cause the problem to worsen.

Although the realignment may cause some downtown businesses to adjust, Planning and Community Development Director Tim Dempsey said the response from most businesses in the area has been largely positive.

“Most people are very excited about it,” he said. “They see it as a great opportunity to capitalize on an increase in business for the weekend.”

Count Beemer among those looking forward to an injection of life into the downtown area on Saturday.

“We’re definitely pro all the festivals and pro all the things East Lansing does during the summer to drive people into the downtown,” he said.