The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts

It's mid-July in central Pennsylvania, and we all know what that means. It's time for our local arts festivals. The biggest one is the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, which takes place in downtown State College and on the lower part of the Penn State Campus. This year, it turned 50!

I decided to take two hours of vacation time from work in the morning and go over to the fest. I walked through campus and also through much of downtown, enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of the fest.

This shot was taken while I was standing on the Penn State campus on College Ave., shooting straight down South Allen Street. I enjoy the colorful banners, and so they are featured in this shot.

One of the coolest things about Arts Fest is how it transforms the town. Suddenly, it's a place to hang out, look at art, buy stuff, eat stuff, listen to stuff, and meet and greet old friends.

Some of the landscaping companies help out by creating little features for the kids to play in: a stage with water overhead and buckets that dump that water randomly down on everyone, and a misting station that cools you off as you walk through it. Both items are featured in this one block, but you can't really see them through the banners and the crowd.

Shortly after taking this shot, I was standing by the misting station trying to get some decent shots (you all know how I am about mist!) when a little girl came running through the misting station.

The little girl stopped in the middle and began to dance, spinning around and around in circles. I watched her until she disappeared into the mist, but I know that even then, although I couldn't see her, she was still dancing. . . .

The soundtrack for this festive street scene is David Bowie and Mick Jagger, with Dancing in the Streets.

Additional link: the main website for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.