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Despite rain Saturday, first Austin ArtWorks Festival shines

Despite a burst of rain in the form of a downpour Saturday, Aug. 25, all involved came away from the first Austin ArtWorks Festival feeling the event was a major success.

Utilizing the old downtown Austin Utilities Plant, the festival drew good crowds both Saturday and Sunday to see works and performances from artists with connections to Austin.

“It was definitely a successful event, “ said project director Jennie Germain. “I keep using the word amazing, but that’s really how I felt. There hasn’t been one single negative comment, but we have gotten ideas for next year.”

The rain that threatened Saturday’s events turned from a lazy rain to a substantial rainfall late afternoon, but in the end it only forced the cancellation of one outdoor performance.

“That was probably the hardest part of the weekend,” said co-chair Bonnie Rietz. “The crowd was flowing through beautifully, but when the heavy rain came then it really slowed down. People started coming again, but not quite like the flow it was before.”

Saturday’s rain hiccup didn’t do much to halt enthusiasm for the event though. According to organizers, the turnout the next day was just as good if not a little better than Saturday.

“It even felt most of time like it was busier than Saturday,” the event’s other co-chair Belita Schindler said. “A lot of people that had been there Saturday came back Sunday.”

The festival already has dates for next year, Aug. 24-25 and the committee will be getting together soon to get a jump on it.

“We’ve scheduled a review of what happened at this year’s festival so we can start forging ahead for next year,” Germain said.

One of the things that will be discussed is the use of a tent next year for the outside events to give people some shade if the weather gets hot like it did Sunday. Another thing the group will take a look at, according to Rietz, is how much more they will open things up to include artists outside of Austin.

Nevertheless, this year’s event left a lot of good on the table.

“One of the best parts for me was when people started flowing through,” Rietz said. “You could see the smiles on their faces and you thought, ‘yes, we did it.’”