Alley Art Festival brings art, music to downtown Aurora

Art, music and spectacle return Saturday, Aug. 30, to downtown Aurora's Water Street Mall as the Alley Art Festival celebrates its fifth year.

More than 60 local artists, a full lineup of musical acts, and other performances will be part of the annual event that runs noon to 5 p.m. in downtown Aurora near City Hall.

"This year really tips the scales as far as local talent is concerned," said Marissa Amoni, who organizes the grass-roots festival. "It's the one day that artists - some of whom got their start at Alley Art Festival - can all get together and show the community what they're up to."

Local artists include Don Picton, Chris Evans, Chris Hodge, Raul Rodea, Solange Henson, Leslie Sabella, Roz Anomaly, Valerie William, Alice DuBois, Cassidy Alexander, Charles Huff, and dozens more.

Featured on the lawn are the local talents of Town Band at noon, Eastern Fire Belly Dance at 1 p.m., Miles Nielsen at 2 p.m., Noah Gabriel at 3 p.m., and Michael Heaton at 4 p.m.

A full lineup of musicians also will perform throughout the day on the stage inside Riverfront Playhouse, including Eric Peter Schwartz, Katie Lentz and Chris Contreras, Barrelhouse Blend, and The Heels. In addition, Culture Stock, 43 E. Galena Blvd., will be open with a $5 bag sale on clearance books.

Alley Art Festival is artist-run and stays true to its original vision of a local, grass-roots art festival on Water Street Mall. The event is free and all art is for sale. Food vendors will be selling hot dogs, ice cream and more.

Alley Art Festival is sponsored by participating artists, Downtown Auroran Magazine, Aurora Downtown, and the city of Aurora's Neighborhood Festival Funding.

The daylong festival is family friendly and welcomes patrons of all ages. Water Street Mall is a pedestrian-friendly, tree-lined, car-free area between Downer Place and Galena Boulevard.

To find out more about Alley Art Festival, visit downtownauroran.wordpress.com.