31st Annual Old Washington Street Festival and Historic Home Tour

Visit Magic City  Gas Boom Era Muncie, Indiana

Be a part of all the excitement and festivities during the Annual Old Washington Street Festival to be held on the four blocks of East Washington Street between Madison and Hackley Streets. The primary focus of the Old Washington Street Festival is on the architectural, cultural, and social heritage of Muncie's Emily Kimbrough Historic District and the surrounding neighborhood. Home tours and a walking tour extend the bounds of the Festival to approximately fourteen square blocks. At the hub of the Festival on Washington Street are demonstrations of crafts contemporary to the turn of the century, arts and crafts displays, musical entertainment, an ice cream social and other refreshments, antiques, a milk wagon and a hand-drawn fire pumper to take visitors back to the gas boom era. We expect the variety of attractions to draw over 8,000 people.

Since 1976 the East Central Neighborhood Association in Muncie, Indiana has sponsored the Old Washington Street Festival. The Festival focuses on the architectural, cultural, and social heritage of Muncie from the late 1800s through the turn of the century.

The East Central Neighborhood boasts a great variety of housing stock, most of it built between 1870 and World War I. At the turn of the century most of Muncie's gas-boom wealth had been lavished on homes here, and many of the twelve-block section of the area has been designated locally and by the state as the Emily Kimbrough Historic District, and in 1980 it was included on the National Register of Historic Places (see neighborhood map). Our neighborhood includes business and industry, as well as a number of community service agencies, organizations, and churches. The architectural charm and variety of homes here have attracted a number of families to return to the city. They are involved in housing restoration projects, some ambitious restorations, and some modest maintenance and redecorating tasks. Our residents find our neighborhood an interesting mix of cultures, lifestyles, and activities; many residents feel that they experience living in a neighborhood in the truest sense.

Exhibition Space

Booth spaces are for individual artists and craftsperson's or for non-retail food vendors. The open spaces are approximately 10' by 10' or 10' by 20'. Requests for electricity (specify 220 or 110 volts) must be made upon application, at an extra charge. Artists must furnish tents, tables, chairs, sacks, and any display items. Your booth location will be available at the Information Booth at 8:00 am on Saturday. Only your juried works of art or foods which have been approved by the festival committee may be sold in your booth. No flea market items are allowed. Exhibitors are required to clean up their space at the end of each day. No packing up before 5:00 pm each day.

The Selection Process

The artist and craftsperson's to exhibit will be determined by the slides, photos & CD's reviewed by the jury, which will consist of Festival Committee members and professional artists and craftsperson's. All work must be original and done by the exhibitor. No one medium will be disproportionately represented. The Festival Committee reserves the right to refuse any artist or craftsperson to exhibit work that has not been submitted and approved. Fee schedules are on the enclosed application.

In an attempt to enhance the historic atmosphere of the Festival, exhibitors are urged to dress in costumes of the period 1880-1910.

Artists' Entries

 Please submit the enclosed entry form along with your check made payable to the Old Washington Street Festival and enclose slides, photographs or CD's for each medium. The Jury will make their decision based on your submission. Include the name of the artist or craftsperson, the medium, and the size of your work photographed on each slide, CD or photograph. If you have exhibited in the past, this is not a guarantee of return. You must submit slides, CD's or photographs with each entry.

Foods/Participants Entries

Because we are attempting to create a particular atmosphere for our Festival, the Festival Committee reserves the right to select participants whose products and presentation are in keeping with that turn-of-the-century atmosphere. Ham and beans and homemade ice cream are staples of the Festival, but in addition we suggest foods such as sausage-on-a-stick, corn on the cob, stew, hickory chicken, omelet's, soups, breads, fruits, pastries, candy apples, fruit or herb teas, plain or fruit lemonade, ciders or packaged food such as granola, jellies, or apple butter. Exhibitors are urged to dress in costumes of the period 1880-1910. Terms of participation are on the enclosed application. A certificate of insurance is required of all food vendors and a certificate from the Delaware County Board of Health Dept. 765-747-7721.

Security

The East Central Neighborhood Association is NOT responsible for damage, theft, or loss. The grounds will be patrolled from 5:00 p.m. Friday to 8:00 p.m. Sunday, but we recommend setting up each morning.

Source: Muncie ECNA