For the thousands of people who ventured out into the scorching heat at the 15th annual Cherry Creek Arts Festival on Saturday, the rewards were generous: ice-cold lemonade, fruity snow cones, ice cream and … Oreo cookies and milk?
“I like to rip the top off and scrape the cream with my teeth,” shouted Anna Sher of Denver.
Sher revealed the secret in her and mom Glo Harris’ operatic rendition of the classic Oreo cookie jingle.
“Three minutes of solid preparation,” she said.
The duo gave its best shot at the open audition call at the Oreo cookie stage along one of the festival’s main drags. Festival-goers were invited to “put their own twist” on the old Oreo cookie song and compete for $1,000 and a trip to Los Angeles to meet famed American Idol judge Randy Jackson.
Cherry Creek’s top cookie crooner will compete with winners from other states for $10,000 and the chance to record a radio ad for Oreo.
Crowds of passers-by paused to munch on free cookies and applaud the contestants. Down the block from the Oreo stage, the festival focused on its purpose – art.
Artist Kimberly Morris sat in the cool shade of her tent working on her needlework. Surrounding Morris were her hand-dyed rugs that took months to weave but ultimately were her ticket into the prestigious arts festival.
“This is the one you hope to get into,” she said.
Morris lives in Wallowa, Ore., a town so small it doesn’t even have stoplights.
“So this is very overwhelming,” she said, looking at the throngs of people and strollers filing past her tent.
Because the festival falls on a three-day weekend this year, organizers expect to see more than the usual 350,000 or so enjoying the festivities. More than 230 artists displayed their work.
A festival spokesman estimated Saturday’s crowd at a record-breaking 125,000.
Many artists acknowledged that Denver’s art-appreciating residents make the Cherry Creek Arts Festival one of the most financially rewarding. But not every festival-goer intends to buy.
“If they were all shopping, I’d be a rich man,” said artist Lewis Tardy of Kalamazoo, Mich.
Tardy’s art – sculptures made with bicycle, industrial and medical materials – falls outside of the mainstream. He’s waiting for those two or three clients shopping for something modern and different. Or he’s waiting for 10-year-old Ryan Martindale-George of Denver.
“I think it’s awesome,” Ryan said as he pointed to a piece he described as a “robot guy shooting through hoops.”
With the $6,800 price tag, Ryan probably won’t talk Dad into this one. But if he did?
“I’d probably put it in my room,” he said.
Staff writer Abbe Smith can be reached at 303-820-1201 or asmith@denverpost.com.
