It's October in Fells Point. The streets are crowded with people, and the restaurants and bars are packed. But it's bigger than Halloween. It's the two-day celebration that packs the sidewalks with food and craft vendors, covering about twelve blocks of the historic neighborhood and drawing over 700,000 people every year. Last weekend's Fells Point Fun Festival, an annual Baltimore tradition since 1967, is the biggest festival held within Baltimore City.
The annual festival was started to raise awareness of the Fells Point area when it was in danger of being leveled to make way for I-95. A group of homeowners banded together to form The Preservation Society, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization aimed at protecting both the Fells Point and Federal Hill areas from destruction. The group started by working to get Fells Point added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, making it the second area in the country on the list, and added Federal Hill to the Register a year later.
"The festival showcases the community and brings people to a greater awareness of the charms of city life and the great things that come with living in a historic neighborhood," explains Festival Coordinator Denise Whitman.
Although The Preservation Society raises money through house tours year-round, the festival is what draws the bulk of its funds. To organize and run the event, the Society employs one full time, year-round position (held by Whitman), five part-time positions, and 400 volunteers.
With enough to keep you busy for an entire day, the festival includes tons of arts and crafts and retail tents, five entertainment stages, street performers, a carnival rides and games area, a beer garden and plenty of great food. The festival prides itself in not only having the typical carnival fare of hot dogs and cotton candy. Not only are area restaurants and take out eateries open, but tent food selections include soft shell crabs, fried calamari, Greek, Chinese, Indian, Australian and Spanish food.
For area businesses, in addition to the hundreds of arts and crafts vendors, it's an important source of revenue.
"It's the busiest weekend of the year," explains Bernard Lyons, a bartender at the famous Bertha's Restaurant. "[The festival] brings in a lot of people who normally don't come into Fells Point."
Bertha's was not only packed, but had a tent outside the restaurant selling "Eat Bertha's Mussels" t-shirts and of course, bowls of the famous dish, with drawn butter.
One of the most unique tents at the festival was manned by three mothers selling wallets made almost exclusively out of duct tape. The women had been selling at area craft shows as a fund raiser for their sons' Boy Scout troop. All three agreed that not only was the festival huge and diverse, but the price to have a tent ($50 for non profits) couldn't be beat.
"Most craft shows [cost] more than that," explained Cindy Zuby.
For other types of vendors, the cost of a tent can cost as much as $325 for retail vendors, with Fells Point businesses receiving a discount.
Yet for some vendors and area businesses, the size of the festival turned out to be a detriment to business.
Luana Kaufman, a collage artist hidden in the back of an open fire hall where most of the artists were grouped, was disappointed with the first day. She felt that the rainy weather was partly to blame, but also felt like having most of the artists in one area hurt her business.
"It's probably good for visitors to be able to get in the [artistic] mindset," Kaufman said. "On the other hand, people get numb with just one thing."
Lyons explained that the festival business was a little slower, partly because of the weather and partly because the crowd was more dispersed over different areas of the festival.
"Usually vendors are clamoring to get into our festival," explained Whitman. "There's also a safety issue, and when you compact the size of the festival, it's not an enjoyable experience for anybody if they can't see or move."
As for the coming years, the festival hopes to continue expanding. Of course, the amount of construction that is going on around Harbor East might limit expansion in the future.
"As we [gain] spaces and lose spaces, we will utilize them to the best of our ability," said Whitman.
Despite the cold and drizzly Saturday weather, most organizers and vendors declared the festival a success. Attendance was estimated at 250,000 on Saturday and 400,000 on Sunday.
One thing's for sure: after such a big weekend, most Fells Point businesses can enjoy a few weeks of down time to clean up. That is, until Halloween.
"We're all very tired," laughed Lyons.
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