Located in downtown Bowling Green, the Black Swamp Arts Festival features 100 juried fine artists, three music stages, plenty of hand-on artistic kids activities and a nice selection of food.
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This post documents my experience on September 8, 2013.
For my experience in 2023, please visit
https://ohiofestivals.net/bowling-green-black-swamp-arts-festival/
In the heart of an area once known as the Great Black Swamp…
…downtown Bowling Green was celebrating what some call the best festival of Northwest Ohio…
…the Black Swamp Arts Festival.
Here along Main Street…
(…and in a parking lot to the side…)
…over 100 juried fine artists showed off such items as stained glass (Alan Sievers)…
…jewelry (Phyllis and Jerry Minnery)…
…furniture (look in the mirror)…
…fiber hats (Penny Evans-Meyer)…
…photography…
…fiber and leather outfits (Paula Grill)…
…ceramics (Rebecca Graves)…
…wooden sculptures (Jon Hecker)…
…felted furry critters (Katherine Meizel)…
…and monster hats and bags (Olivia’s Kloset).
It took a while to see it all…
…but it was great to see such a fine collection of talent (Gint Sabaliauskas)…
…while sometimes being distracted by local business sidewalk sales…
…charcoal artists…
…free kettle korn samples…
…library book sales…
…a plethora of pooches…
…spiritual counseling (Gospel Tracts)…
…tiny little devils…
…families in strange Mexican masks…
…and the awesome bands playing at the Acoustic Stage…
…the Main Stage (Milton)…
…and the Family Stage (Kobo Town).
Obviously, the festival had a lot going on and that still wasn’t the end of it…
…as an entire section was called Youth Arts Village…
…made up of various tents…
…and stations for kids to work on art-related activities.
And to entice them to visit all the tents…
…each one was marked by a country…
…that earned them a marking on their passports.
I should also mention that there was a tie-dye tent in the village as well…
…and many adults took advantage of this activity (for a fee).
When I finally saw everything…
…I went about halfway down the row of artists…
…and found the food area…
…where there was cajun food (featuring alligator and frog legs)…
…Amish delights…
…various other festival foods…
…and a beer garden.
Wanting something quick and cheesy before hitting the road…
…the slice from Pisanello’s did just the trick.