Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival Will Open Your Eyes

Location(s)

Every year I look forward to the Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival, held this year Friday, July 6 through Sunday, July 8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. all days in historic Columbus Circle in downtown Syracuse. If you haven’t yet experienced the festival, you need to. If you have, I’ll see you there.

Come for the dozens of artists selling their distinctive pieces, for the great food, live music, street performers, great surrounding architecture and neat things for small kids and “big kids,” too.

You can purchase original pieces of art often quite nominally as a gift, or splurge on that more expensive piece that will be perfect for that corner in your place.

You don’t need to be part of the “arts scene” to fit-in or enjoy it either. (I’m not.) You’ll see all walks of life from every geographic and socio-economic category, there.

The architecture is awesome at the festival site, too. The High Empire Style Court House is on one side fountain with statue of Christopher Columbus and the other side is the impressive Gothic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Check-out the Cathedral’s public, yet small prayer garden just beyond the main entrance. It’s one of my favorite, intimate places in all of Syracuse. Take a walk down two of the side streets and get a feel of what Syracuse might have looked been at the turn of the last century.

The French-inspired former public library, and Gothic Mispah Tower are also off the Circle, with the modern AXA Towers and the Civic Center peering over smaller older structures – giving it a cosmopolitan vibe. The Onondaga Historical Society Building is also nearby.

Log-on below for more details:

www.downtownsyracuse.com