Cd'A hits summer festival trifecta

COEUR d'ALENE - The Lake City's status as a mecca for artists and art enthusiasts, fun-seekers and downtown shoppers is about to be ramped up - a lot.

Coeur d'Alene's annual summer festival trifecta starts downtown today with three big events running simultaneously through Sunday: Art on the Green, the Downtown Street Fair and Taste of Coeur d'Alene.

"It has become a major event in the Pacific Northwest," said Gay Glasson, event coordinator for the city's Downtown Association, hosts of the Street Fair.

Glasson said it's estimated that roughly 50,000 people were drawn to Coeur d'Alene during the festival weekend last summer.

Art on the Green, in its 44th year, is the grand-daddy of all three events. It takes place on the grounds of North Idaho College, 1000 W. Garden Ave., Coeur d'Alene, and kicks off at noon today.

"We have four generations of families involved since it started," said spokesman Mike Dodge.

Dodge is treasurer of the nonprofit Citizens' Council for the Arts, sponsors and organizers of Art on the Green.

The event is put on by the community, Dodge said, with 500 to 600 volunteers working to make it happen, and nearly all the funds raised going back into the community to support the arts throughout the year. CCA has one part-time employee, Dodge said.

"When you see somebody selling corn, chicken or sausage, or booth sitting or helping set up a booth that's gone up, it's a labor of love," Dodge said. "It's a beautiful thing."

Billed as a "marketplace, performance space and gathering place for friends and families," Art on the Green offers a chance to view the work of more than 135 visual artists and an entertainment stage with a lineup that's peppered with a diverse array of performance art styles.

Taste of Coeur d'Alene, sponsored and organized for the last four years by Idaho Panhandle Kiwanis, takes place in City Park, and begins at 10 a.m. today.

The event, in its 25th year, features more than 100 art and food vendors and entertainment, said Sarah McCracken, chair of the Kiwanis club's Taste of Coeur d'Alene Committee.

This year, the event offers a free children's area they are presenting through a partnership with the Spokane Entertainers Guild, McCracken said. Those festivities will have a medieval, renaissance theme with related activities including the chance to complete a quest and be knighted.

Since Kiwanis is a service organization that works to serve children, and the proceeds will support children in the Idaho Panhandle community, McCracken said it feels especially appropriate to have special activities for kids at Taste of Coeur d'Alene. "I'm super excited about it. It's going to be so much fun," she said.

Meanwhile on Sherman Avenue, the Downtown Street Fair will be in full swing beginning at 10 a.m. today.

Festival-goers can meander over from NIC and City Park to explore the wares offered by 165 outside vendors and 65 downtown merchants.

In its 21st year, the street fair is the baby of the weekend activities, said Downtown Association event coordinator Gay Glasson.

The street fair began as a sidewalk sale put on by local merchants the weekend of Art on the Green. Vendors started asking to join, and through the years, it's continued to grow.

"We always have a great mix of returning favorite vendors, and several new ones," Glasson said. "I have one vendor who's been to Street Fair every year for 19 years. That's what makes it so great, the mix."

The street fair also includes entertainment all day on several street corners.

There is also a free shuttle bus this year.

"People can come down and park one time and catch the shuttle bus to all the events," Glasson said.