By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
For the last three days, Bowling Green basked in sunshine and soul, pottery and paintings, perch tacos and chicken on a stick.
The swamp fest packed Main Street with art patrons seeking treasures to take home. It lured music lovers to pull up seats in front of three stages. And it brought people together downtown to celebrate creativity.
It’s impossible to give an accurate count of Black Swamp Arts Festival crowds – since there is no admission charged, said Amy Craft Ahrens, who has worked the festival for years. But estimates of 40,000 for previous festival years were repeated this year.
The fest started out a bit dicey Friday afternoon, with whipping winds discouraging a handful of artists with fragile merchandise from setting up along Main Street.
As the wind calmed a bit on Friday evening, the Black Swamp Arts Festival drew big crowds to listen to bands.
“It was great, especially considering the slightly cool temperatures and the wind,” Craft Ahrens said.
The crowds came back for more on Saturday – and brought even more people with them.
“I think they loved not sweating,” Craft Ahrens said of the welcome fall temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s.
After working the festival for years, and in charge of concessions this year with Kate Kamphuis, Craft Ahrens has a couple measuring sticks for attendance at the Black Swamp.
First is the time it takes to get from one end of the festival to the other in a gator going down Main Street. Some years, she can zip through thin crowds.
Not this year.
“Yesterday was bumper to bumper. That’s a good sign for the vendors,” she said. And a good sign for the businesses that line Main Street, Craft Ahrens said.
The other yardstick is the length of the customer line waiting for sirloin tips. At one point Saturday, the line stretched past the long line of port-a-potties, almost out to Clough Street.
“There were not any seats open last night between 7 to 10,” Craft Ahrens said Sunday of the beer garden area of the festival.
And that’s good news for next year’s musical entertainment, since the beer garden revenue helps finance the bands.
Main Street and the main stage had healthy crowds on Sunday, with many local residents and art fans returning for one more day of the swamp.
This year’s festival chairman, Mark Strang, said by all yardsticks the festival was a success. The event was again staffed by a completely volunteer workforce.
“Many people take a day off work to be a part of the community festival,” he said on Sunday. And soon the process will start all over again, with efforts made to “reload and restock” volunteers for next year.
“It’s not our festival. It’s the community’s festival,” Strang said. “We appreciate being cherished and nurtured,” and make an effort to support other community projects.
The artists told Strang that the foot traffic on Main Street was great, leading to good sales. Patrons went home with jewelry, woodworking, photography, metalworking, baskets, leather, glass, pottery, textiles, paintings and repurposed lighting fixtures.
Efforts were repeated to stir the inner artists of all ages, giving kids the supplies and space to dabble in their own works of art. The youth arts area again allowed kids to tie-dye shirts and make big floppy paper hats.
The chalk walk area offered teens the chance to turn street pavement into art. And the “beat on the street” competition gave high school students the opportunity to show their talent singing acapella.
“We do stuff for all ages,” Strang said.
And as for the three stages of music, they did not disappoint.
“The music’s been great,” he said.
Audiences were treated to Southern rock, Americana, Afro-jazz, funk, blues, and old-time fiddle and banjo music.
“I was super impressed with the level of talent – younger bands, older bands – everyone was really good,” said Tom McLaughlin, a Bowling Green native who is a music producer and composer in Los Angeles. “I’m always impressed with the level of talent here.”
McLaughlin, who returned home to volunteer at the fest, said he particularly enjoyed Leadfoot Granny, who performed Friday evening. “They brought so much energy.”
Organizing a free three-day outdoor festival has a host of challenges.
“It’s wrangling a lot of different personalities,” McLaughlin said. “Cole did a phenomenal job,” he said of Cole Christensen, head of the festival’s performing arts committee.
As always, the fest afforded people a chance to hear different music without paying admission.
“It’s unusual to get a weekend of free music,” McLaughlin said.
While putting together the annual Black Swamp is a year-round job, the increased number of BGSU students helping this year, and the willingness of volunteers to sign up again makes it possible.
“We’re lucky to have some volunteers come back year after year,” Craft Aherns said.
One of those repeat volunteers is Dave Shaffer, who returned from his home in Tucson, Arizona, to help. Shaffer served on the festival committee for about 25 years – four times as chairman.
“Being chair is hard,” he said. “The chair often says, ‘This is my last festival.’ But then they do it again.”
As previous years, Shaffer helped with the set up and tear down of the beer garden. It’s a job that suits him perfectly.
“It starts it off and ends it. And in the middle, I get to enjoy it,” Shaffer said.
