After a Memorial Day weekend packed with Artscape, Sowebo Arts and Music Festival and more, the city is starting to see answers to the question — is Baltimore ready to be a multi-festival city?
Late Sunday afternoon, Hamilton Outlaw was strumming away on one of the four stages set up around the seven-block festival radius. A young man, who looks to be in early elementary school, comes by to give me unsolicited, but appreciated, food recommendations.
“I got ice cream, hot dogs, fried chicken,” Ashton tells me.
And the art overfloweth. From Broadway posters made entirely of tiny hand drawn lyrics, to bottle cap earrings, and the famous Black Cherry Puppet Theater parade — there’s seemingly something for everyone.
My eye immediately goes to a guy with hot pink dreadlocks. It’s Juan Mercado, who attended his first Sowebo Festival on Sunday.
“I like the music. I like how many people are here and everyone's having a good time,” says Mercado. “And then there's all types of like, vendors and stuff. And everyone looks cool too!”
Sowebo Festival is held in Southwest Baltimore in the footprint around the newly reopened Hollins Market — which for Mercado and some others, actually brought them to the festival.
Mercado was photographing a modeling event at the market. “I didn't actually know this was happening, but I showed up, and I was like, ‘All right, after we're done with that, I want to see this, because this is cool.’”
Late last year, when the city announced the two-day long Artscape would be held on Memorial Day weekend instead of over the summer, some city residents worried that it would “bigfoot” legacy events like Sowebo, which like clockwork, is held every Memorial Day Sunday.
But 20 year-old Mercado doesn’t see it as a competition.
“I think it's cool because if you get bored, or, like, if you see everything at one, then you can just go to the other.”
In fact, many Sowebo goers told me they were splitting their weekends between the two events. But attending multiple festivals — and organizing around multiple festivals — are two totally different things.
Laura Dykes, president of the Hollins Roundhouse Neighborhood Association, is a lead festival organizer and does think overall attendance for the event was down, although organizers don’t keep an official headcount.
“It's hard to get… publicity…. when Artscape is taking up all of the air? You know?” she said, noting that Sowebo is an entirely volunteer run event. Part of the reason it’s always held on Memorial Day Sunday is because those volunteers mostly work full time jobs.
But, at the same time, she says the community has come out in support.
“We've been very, very fortunate that I think people are making a point to come out and see us and support us and hear some great music and patronize all our various vendors,” she said. While some legacy vendors opted to do Artscape over Sowebo, Dykes says they had so many interested vendors that they actually had to expand the festival footprint this year.
“We have over 180 vendors this year!”
Right now, it looks unlikely that Sowebo will move to another weekend. For what it’s worth, city leaders have taken to social media to largely declare this year’s Artscape a success, but there’s no official word on whether it will remain a Memorial Day weekend event either.
From a security perspective, a spokesperson from the Baltimore Police Department reports that the weekend’s activities, which also included Maryland Deathfest — one of the country’s largest heavy metal festivals — and the Teen Takeover in Druid Hill Park, all fell within BPD’s capacity with no major incidents reported at any event.
“We recognize the seasonal shifts and increased activity that summer months and holidays often bring, and we adjust our approach accordingly,” wrote BPD communications officer Lindsey Eldridge. “Our strategies are continually reviewed and updated to ensure the most effective use of all available resources.”
Around 300 officers were deployed to cover various special events and other “key locations” throughout the city, said Eldridge.
For Dykes, the choice of festivity is clear.
“Even though I planned it, I do want to say [Sowebo] is the best festival. It's… really authentic. You have such a diverse range of people here just enjoying each other and being in community.”
Standing by the merch table, Chris Hamilton takes a break after his band Radiation Puppy finishes their set.
“It went great! I think the crowd was really excited, and there was a good crowd here. And I think that's what's important.”
He’s played both Sowebo and Artscape in years past. If anything, he thinks Baltimoreans are hungry for more.
“I think the more opportunities we have to expand art in this wonderful city that I've called my home for my whole life is better, right?... I just wish there were more and more festivals like these throughout the summer.”
So, can Baltimore be a multi festival town? That’ll be for festival goers to decide.
