Niagara Gazette
June 23, 2011
ART AND MUSIC FEST: Main Street event debuts Saturday and Sunday
By Michele Deluca
Niagara Gazette
NIAGARA FALLS — If things go as planners hope, a legacy will be born this weekend.
Hopefully years from now, the Niagara Falls Art and Music Festival will have grown into one of the most popular music and art festivals in the region and those who took the ambitious first steps will be local heroes.
But, this weekend will have lots of people holding their breath as the art and music festival on Main Street comes to life in living colors and sounds.
"We actually feel people are excited about what we're doing," said Rick Crogran, president of the Main St. Business and Professional Association. "I'm nervous right now. I hope to God we get the people to support it. I think we will."
"This is a labor of love for all of us," he said of his planning committee, noting his hope that the event, created on a "shoestring," will be a "wake up call to the city about what we can do."
"A lot of the people involved in this remember what is was like to have fun in our city," he added. The hope is that plenty of fun will be had on Main Street Saturday and Sunday.
Singer/songwriter Ron LaSalle is co-chair of the music performances and is most proud of obtaining the Saturday headline band, Pirate Dreams.
"They have a Jimmy Buffet kind of music," he said. Also, his good friend, two-time Buffalo Hall of Fame musician Frank Grisanti will open for the Pirate Dreams.
The event, which begins at noon Saturday and Sunday, with an undetermined end time on both days, will feature over 20 musical performances, 72 vendors, a classic car show on Sunday, culinary samplings, wine and beer tastings and many booths and exhibits from local artisans and jewelers.
The event will be held rain or shine on Main Street, in front of the new Niagara Falls Municipal Complex and extend from Michigan to Niagara avenues.
