Vendor tents at the Fountain Square Art Festival in downtown Evanston in June 2015. Photo: cultivar413 from Fallbrook, California / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Applications for Evanston’s three big summer arts festivals were open by the third week of January 2015, and the Downtown Evanston Farmers’ Market had begun taking applications for its Homegrown Artists program. The City of Evanston’s Cultural Arts Division presents the festivals and the Starlight concert series, with partial support from a grant by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
The festival calendar
- Fountain Square Arts Festival: June 27-28, downtown.
- Evanston Ethnic Arts Festival: Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19, at Dawes Park. It was the festival’s 30th year.
- Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival: Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1-2, also at Dawes Park, marking the 43rd year.
Dawes Park is on the lakefront at Sheridan Road and Church Street. Admission to both Dawes Park festivals was free.
How to apply
Artists wanting to sell at the Ethnic Arts and Lakeshore festivals could apply online through the national application site Zapplication starting Jan. 5. The city also offered a downloadable paper form for the Ethnic Arts Festival. Food vendors and performers used forms posted on the city’s festival pages, and performers seeking a Starlight concert slot had a separate form. Food vendor fees, artist jury fees and exhibitor fees vary, but there is no charge to apply to perform.
The deadlines were staggered:
- Jan. 23: artist vendors, Fountain Square Arts Festival
- March 30: performing artists for the Ethnic Arts Festival and the Starlight concerts
- April 3: artist vendors, Lakeshore Arts Festival
- April 27: food vendors for both Dawes Park festivals
- April 30: performing artists, Lakeshore Arts Festival
- May 4: artist vendors, Ethnic Arts Festival
For the farmers’ market, the Homegrown Artists applications were already available, and the city said applications for new food and produce vendors would be posted in February.
Who the city was courting
The city framed the markets and festivals as more than places to shop. It described them as a chance for food vendors, artisans, makers and small entrepreneurs to start or grow a business in front of summer crowds.
The Ethnic Arts Festival, which began in the 1980s, has featured a juried arts and crafts sale, artist demonstrations, children’s workshops, ethnic foods and live entertainment, according to published accounts.
Rachel Lindqvist covers community life, the lakefront, dining and the arts for The Evanston Edge.
