Eagle Rock Art Guild holding its annual Sidewalk Art Festival for community members
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IDAHO FALLS — The Eagle Rock Art Guild’s annual Sidewalk Art Festival is returning for its 69th year this weekend.
The Eagle Rock Art Guild (ERAG) is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization founded in 1948. Their annual Sidewalk Art Festival will take place on Saturday, July 20 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, July 21 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Idaho Falls Greenbelt Riverwalk on Memorial Drive.
“Our (ERAG) members and other regional artists join us to show pieces and to sale,” Dawn Langston, ERAG president, said about the festival. “We have a really good variety of artists this year.”
Langston said there will be about 50 artists and 41 different booths for community members to check out.
Of the artists in attendance, there will be those who work with pottery and ceramics, glass blowers and stain glass artists, as well as woodworkers. There will also be sculptures, painters and drawers and items featuring oil, acrylic and charcoal.
“The Bonneville Art Association … will have a group booth, so multiple people from their association will be showing pieces too, which is something new to us this year,” Langston added.
Arctic Circle will be passing out free ice-cream on Sunday at 1 p.m. A few vendors, including Hawaiin Ice, Kona Ice and The Villa Coffeehouse will be at the event both days. On Saturday morning, the festival will overlap with the Idaho Falls Farmers Market so food vendors will also be nearby.
The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho will have a booth with a free art activity for those interested in participating. Community members will have the opportunity to observe artists drawing and painting during the event and a caricature artist will also be there.
Langston said Jonny Nichols from Vacant Gate will oversee the music as the DJ at the event.
“We usually anticipate that we have around 10,000 people come through over both days,” Langston explained.
She believes this is an event community members look forward to. She mentioned how important it was for her to see this festival continue over the years, so she originally joined the art guild with that in mind.
“I remember this festival from when I was young. My family lived near the greenbelt so I always remember every year walking through looking at the art, seeing what other people were doing and loving this festival,” she said. “It’s a great public resource and a historical event for the city.”
ERAG will be putting on a raffle in conjunction with the festival. It’s free to enter but you have to get your raffle ticket before the event and bring it to the ERAG booth during the festival. To download a raffle ticket to fill out, click here.
Items that will be raffled off are art donations, previous years posters from the Sidewalk Art Festival and items donated from local businesses.
“For me, there’s not a right way or a wrong way to express yourself through art. There’s a lot of different ways,” Langston stated. “My anticipation is by people coming to the event and seeing the variety of artists and stopping and visiting with them, asking about their experiences, techniques and lessons learned, that they can be inspired to express themselves whether it’s through art or writing or whatever outlet they feel is appropriate for them.”
