Forget Yogi Berra.
It’s anything but déja vu all over again as the Cherry Creek Arts Festival returns this weekend for its 17th year.
While the basic format of the three-day arts extravaganza remains the same from year to year, organizers work overtime to make sure it takes on a distinctively different complexion each summer.
“It’s one of the very first things we talk about when we pull our team together in the fall and start strategizing: What can we do that’s going to be new and innovative and creative and stay away from the ‘been there, done that’ experience?” said Terry Adams, the festival’s executive director.
The biggest change from summer to summer is the addition of artists who have never shown at the festival before and the reintroduction of others who have exhibited before but not the previous year. This summer, 78 fall in the first category and 63 in the second.
As Adams is quick to point out, those numbers mean that nearly two-thirds of the 228 participating artists this year did not take part in 2006.
“One of the things we hear on occasion is, ‘Oh, it’s just the same artists year after year,”‘ he said. “And that’s absolutely not the case.”
To drive home this notion of newness, booths of debut Cherry Creek exhibitors will be adorned with a special sticker for the first time.
Along with a constantly evolving roster of artists, the festival modifies many other facets of the event each summer, everything from refreshing the entertainment lineup to adding new food vendors.
The biggest such change this year is the introduction of a 7-minute fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Viewers who are too far away to hear the accompanying music can download it via.
“We’re a Fourth of July event, and it seems a natural fit to offer that as an enhancement,” Adams said. “We’ve been looking at it for a few years, but the technology is what’s allowing us to do it safely now.”
The festival drew 385,000 people last year, and Adams hopes the fireworks and other changes will help the festival attract 400,000 visitors for the first time. Other firsts this summer:
Preview. Visitors got an advance peek at the festival during a free preview Thursday evening along Clayton Street between Second and Third Avenues. The event included nearly 30 artist booths, strolling entertainers and a selection of “spirited” beverages.
Podcasting. Diving into the world of technology, the festival is providing audio and video podcasts with previews and behind-the-scenes glimpses at how the offering comes together. Visit.
Australia’s Sway Pole. This unusual group from Melbourne merges theater, dance and the circus, as it performs an array of audience-pleasing feats using 15-foot-tall flexible poles. It will perform three times as day on the Janus Main Stage, one of three entertainment venues.
My Art Creates Mosaic. A 6-by-20-foot banner will be blank when the festival begins, and attendees old and young can help fill it in. Participants will decorate 5-inch paper squares, which will be attached to the banner. The project is part of Artivity Avenue, a series of hands-on family activities on Milwaukee Street between Second and Third.
Entertainment. Like the roster of artists, the festival likes to shake up its lineup of performers. This summer’s newcomers include contemporary jazz pianist Lao Tizer (6 p.m. Saturday) and Boulder singer/songwriter Rebecca Folsom (2:30 p.m. Sunday).
Community Nest Project. With visitors looking on and helping, if they are so inclined, Denver installation artist and photographer Karen White will create a large-scale nest sculpture during the festival’s run. The piece will be constructed of sticks and other natural materials.
Food vendors. Of this summer’s 23 widely varied culinary purveyors, 10 are new. Among the first-timers are A Taste of Athens, Bombay Station, Purple Avocado, Three Sons Italian, Waffle Brothers and Wok and Roll.
Just the same old thing at this year’s Cherry Creek Arts Festival? No way.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
| 2007 Cherry Creek Arts Festival
ART FAIR|Multimedia work by more than 225 artists plus entertainment, family activities and food|Cherry Creek North, East Second and Third avenues from Steele to Columbine streets|FREE|10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday; fireworks, 9:30 p.m. Saturday; 303-355-2787 or.
PARKING|$5, Janus building, 151 Detroit St.; Clayton Lane garage, East Second Avenue and Columbine Street; Whole Foods garage, East Second Avenue and University Boulevard, and Standard Parking, 175 Milwaukee St.
