Just in time for holiday shopping, the River Arts District is having a festival to celebrate its soft reopening. The reopening comes more than a month after Hurricane Helene devastated the area.
This weekend, artists and shop owners in the surviving buildings of the district are inviting visitors to come check out their studios. Bars and restaurants, including Crucible and Wedge Brewing, will also be open for business.
Jeffrey Burroughs, the president of the River Arts District Artists, said the festival is a way to celebrate the perseverance of local artists. An estimated 500 people either work or sell art in the district, he said. And approximately 80% of the district was damaged by Helene.
“It’s been a lot,” he said. “A lot of these artists not only lost their studios. I mean, these are dreams that literally washed down a river.”
The festival will run on Saturday and Sunday in the “safe parts” of the district, Burroughs said. Those sections include Roberts Street, Artful Way, Clingman Ave and upper Depot Street. Visitors can expect food trucks and live music from the morning until sunset.
There will also be a special market in the Pinegate Renewables parking lot where displaced artists will sell their work.
Burrough said he wants the festival to bring hope – and much-needed income for artists who typically rely on the fall tourism season to sustain themselves for the year.
“There’s an unimaginable amount of loss,” he said. “And I hope that our local community will continue to show up for us because if we don't have tourists and we don't have the locals, we will lose the beating heart of our city.”
Get more information on the festival.
