Urban Safari: Paradise City Arts Festival

PCAF...still awesome post-COVID!!!

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Carolyn Donovan and Wan Chi Lau in RainyDayCrafts, RainyDayDestinations, Urban Safari // 0 Comments

The pandemic forced many of the shows and events we would normally attend to be either cancelled or reimagined as a virtual…something. While “attending” a show online was kind of convenient, it did not compare to being there in person.

The 2021 Paradise City Arts Festival (PCAF) was our first in-person arts and crafts show since early 2020. The show was held where it’s always been held, in and around the three enormous buildings of the Three-County Fair grounds, about a 100 miles from Boston (54 Old Ferry Road, off Route 9 Northampton, MA) and it was absolutely worth the drive!!!

Paradise City Arts Festival

PCAF is a gathering of wares from artists in fine furniture, jewelry, art glass, garden sculpture, ceramics, fashion, painting and a whole lot more.

Our very first PCAF was back in 2004, and RainyDayMagazine had just launched. We weren’t exactly sure at all what we would be covering, but we were intrigued by PCAF and knew it was something we wanted to share with our readers.

Seventeen years later, we still feel the same about the show.

Fabulous artisans AND crafters, AND a bunch of food venders under a tent, AND flowers on the tables? Fancy-schmance for sure.

PCAF Inside

After a two-year break, 220 artists and artisans answered the call to assemble, show off their works, and to offer the public an opportunity to acquire some extraordinary things. As with all gatherings (in sensible states) while COVID is still a thing, most folks were masked indoors and observed reasonable distancing. We had no cause for any health concerns while attending the show.

“Oh my gawd.” “Look at that.” “That is beautiful.” “I love it.” Said everywhere. At every booth.

Prints on metal – a newish “thing” this year.

Didn’t somebody say “Metal maketh the art?” Well, someone should.

How I know I’m not an artist: when my pieces of paper rip, I just throw them out.

Fine furniture is a form of functional art, and plenty of fine furniture makers were at the show. We walked amongst the pieces, feasted our eyes on their beauty, and spoke with some of the artists about their craft.

Smooth as marble, and a delight to run your hand over. These guys were almost loathe to part with their work. I think they thought of them as children.

This is not just fun, this is joyous. Everybody smiled when they walked by, and most of them stopped.

Craft, according to Merriam-Webster, is “an occupation, trade, or activity requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill.” Everywhere we looked at the PCAF, examples of said dexterity and skill were on display, and in abundance. The creativity exhibited was only exceeded by the variety, imagination, and skills of the crafters/artisans/artists.

Talk about craft coming in all shapes and sizes…

You could feel the delight of people talking to each other, and discovering new things and new ways of looking at “shtuff.”

Don’t lie, you want him. He’s the Tin Man’s cousin Marvin. And he has a lightbulb–that works–coming out of his head. Tin Man’s got nuthin’ on Marvin.

PCAF Outside

Crafters and artisans with larger (aka gi-normous) and heavier (aka unmovable) sculptural pieces designed (mostly) for, uh, living, outside, were displayed outside. They were just as creative as the pieces inside, but bigger in scale and more suited for open spaces.

“I’m going to live here now. That cat’s got no chance.”

As expected, the materials used in the exterior pieces reflected the environment. Most were made from metal. Some were made with stainless steel, others from items made of stainless steel. Reuse at it’s creative best!

All shapes, all sizes, all delightful.

Regardless of their size or materials used, the thing many of them had in common was their… whimsicality.

“Let’s take him home. He’ll eat zero bird feed!”

As readers may have concluded, we thoroughly enjoyed our venture out to Northampton for this PCAF. The NEXT PCAF will be in Marlborough Nov 19-21…mark it on your calendar now 🙂 It will likely be just as AWESOME!!!