Art In The Park: More Exhibitors & Big Dallas Smith Concert May 31!

                   A record number of exhibitors have signed up for this year’s Art in the Park.

                “We’re over the top, and over the moon about this”, Renee Pare, Event Chair for Art in the Park 2013, says. “We’re not only totally sold out for the 4^th year in a row  -- we’ve also attracted our highest number of exhibitors and vendors ever – an all-time record 283. And we still have a waiting list. Through some ingenious restructuring, our planning team has actually carved out some additional display space for this year’s event.   Art in the Park 2013 is shaping up as our biggest – and best – show ever”, Pare enthuses.

In March, for the second consecutive year, Art in the Park was named one of the top 100 events of its kind by Festivals and Events Ontario.

                Under the auspices of the Rotary Club of Windsor (1918) -- and with the support this year of our Premier  sponsor  Caesars Windsor --  the 35^th annual Art in the Park will be held on the grounds of Willistead Manor on Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2.  But the fun isn’t limited just to the weekend. The region’s largest annual outdoor arts and crafts event kicks off with live entertainment at a special pre-event launch party in the park on Friday night, May 31. Art in the Park has signed two well-known country music performers – Dallas Smith and Leah Daniels – for this year’s show.

Beer, wine and other refreshments will again be available in the event’s lively epicenter, the Spirit Tent, which will also offer great musical entertainment on Saturday and Sunday. Children will again have their very own special entertainment venue in the AIP Kids Zone.

                As a special feature this year, event organizers have received a beautiful piece of art valued at more than $2,000 donated to AITP by noted artist Paul Murray.  A limited 1,760 draw prize tickets are available at $5.00 each for this exclusive edition painting. The draw will be held at the Rotary Club’s regular meeting at the Caboto Club on June 3, the day after Art in the Park closes.

                The nearly 300 vendors from across Ontario and Quebec will display and sell their unique wares in an enticing array of tents and displays set up around the perimeter of Willistead Park.  Public viewing and shopping hours have again been extended from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.  Art in the Park is one of only a few “juried” public art exhibitions at which standards of quality and acceptance is at a consistently high level.

                Rotary is once again partnering with G & L Stevenson Transport to provide free parking and a continuous complimentary shuttle bus service to and from Willistead Park.  The two satellite parking lots are the Hiram Walker employees’ parking lot at 2072 Riverside Drive E. at Montreuil St. and the Windsor Regional Hospital parking lot on Kildare Rd. two blocks north of Tecumseh Rd. E.  The free shuttle buses will run from 9:40am to 7:30pm on Saturday, and from 9:40am to 5:30pm on Sunday.

                Proceeds from Art in the Park go toward supporting local special needs children, youth and adults as well as the ongoing restoration of Windsor’s architectural jewel, Willistead Manor.  To date, this eagerly anticipated annual cultural event has raised well over $1 million

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by Alan Halberstadt www.alanhalberstadt.com