Deep Ellum Arts Festival History For Another Year

On Saturday, my car made its way down to check out the annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival with me in it. Although it was already decided that I would come back on Sunday and make the run down Main Street one foot in front of the other. It was a good thing that I did check it out a day earlier because the festival had rearranged itself due to Deep Ellum's first fully certified high rise deep in the heart of Deep Ellum at Main and Hall. That pushed the stage down a few more blocks to the border of Fair Park and Deep Ellum. Instead of the start at Good Latimer, that too, had been moved down to Malcolm X.

My favorite and basically unknown parking spot was stacked with cars and seeing piles of metal wrapped around the Sons of Hermann building was another sign that parking was not going to be normal this year for me. So, I spent my time down there on Saturday scoping out possible parking spots for Sunday. It was warm, the sun was hot and bearing down making it more uncomfortable to walk the length of the festival and come back toward the car if I had taken in the Festival. I like meter parking more than Event parking because I don't have to leave my keys. Plus, I can park cheaper at the meter than in a lot. Every extra dollar that it cost me to shoot an event means I've got to sell more pictures just to break even. It's more of an economic thing than anything else.

Sunday came, I made my way to shoot a couple of things on the list and ended up on the heavy end of Deep Ellum. That's the end where the skyscrapers are anchored to the bed rock on the other side of the line drawn in the soil by US 75 Central Expressway separates downtown from the beginning of Deep Ellum on Main Street. Finding a metered space in which to park was quick and painless on Elm Street. Yep, that is the same Elm, Main, and Commerce that became so worldwide known with the Kennedy Era. The Festival to me was expanded. It ran 6-blocks for one. In another way, there was
cross walks of vendors  off the main drag (pardon the Main pun). All-in-all, again, to me it was a great improvement over past years. It's matured over the years. This year, it showed! I enjoyed the festival  and had fun at the same time.  Here are a few of the best shots and I'll try to made another posting of more afterwards.

The best seat in the house! The best gig ever!

The first high rise on this end of main.

Shooting into the mirror, mirror on the wall and the shots were amazing. This turned out to be the most fun of all day.

 

Deep Ellum Arts Festival Underway

So cute!

This year, the annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival fell on Easter Weekend. It traditionally runs Fri evening, all day Saturday until late and the Sunday until early evening. Saturday, this year, was by far the best weather day of all. Easter Sunday, it rained and was gloomy and cold.

As usual, the festival is fun. The food is great. The entertainment is always traditionally Deep Ellum! The street performers were exceptionally hot (the sax player was jammin') and was quiet the show with one crowd watcher and a young lady really getting down to his music,especially. It was an awesome performance. One of the best that I have seen in years.

Then, there were the dogs that stole the day as well. I love Deep Ellum and the eclectic air. While Deep Ellum has been around for 100 years or more and people like Blind Lemon  were real, Deep Ellum is in a sort of revival and I like to see that. New Orleans is New Orleans. Beale Street is Memphis, Chicago and Detroit had their own as well, but Deep Ellum is Dallas and is growing new sounds all the time.

As some still say, "this is old-fashioned, cuttin' the rug."