The third edition of the First Saturdays Monthly Festival of Arts and Culture rolls into Olde Towne Okotoks June 4 and it is hoped the weather will finally cooperate with the staging of its many activities.
First Saturdays coordinator Sandra Neil said the festival had an inauspicious debut on April 2 as a spring snowstorm plowed through southern Alberta.
“It was very snowy,” she said. “Still a lot of the merchants told me they got more people out than they expected. I organized a Crafternoon and we got 30 people out to that which is pretty good under the circumstances. I had dinner at Bistro Provence that night and they were full. So it wasn’t a great one but some people still did do well.”
First Saturdays is a partnership of many distinctive businesses and cultural venues within Olde Towne Okotoks. The idea is present a mix of special activities to entice people to either discover or rediscover the vitality of the community’s downtown core.
Things were much improved when First Saturdays returned on May 7. Neal said a beautiful warm day wasn’t the only thing that had more people enthused about the event.
“It was the first time we had our Market Square,” she said. “They will be out again for every First Saturday in the summer downtown at the plaza.”
The Market Square is a place where the operators of home-based businesses can set up tables and promote their goods and services. Local photographers, handymen, artists, jewelers and other merchants gathered at the Olde Towne Plaza.
An impressive crowd visited the market at its debut Neal said.
“People who were driving by could see something interesting was happening there and I think a lot of people stopped to find out what was going on,” she explained.
Aileen Lamontagne, owner of Monkey Mountain Toys and Games, has been a part of First Saturdays from the beginning and she’s doing her part to provide a draw for families by bringing in a surprise street performer.
Even though Lamontagne enjoys a location only a block west of the plaza she said didn’t feel the market or First Saturdays actually drew more people into her store.
“It was probably as busy as any regular Saturday for us,” she said. “We tend to get a lot of people anyhow. It’s the weekend and we have birthday parties and things like that happening.”
Even without a noticeable surge in business Lamontagne said she is greatly enthused by the response she saw from First Saturdays.
“I think people are just coming out for the day itself,” she said. “I think people are coming to be downtown and to be relaxed.”
The local merchant said it’s not just The Market Square that pulled people downtown last time but the number of things going on all along the street.
She said things would likely get much busier for the event as awareness grows.
“I think a year from now everyone is going to know exactly what First Saturdays are,” she said. “Right now people are just starting to figure it out.”
First Saturdays will run throughout the year and for a rundown of First Saturdays events go to www.okotoksartscouncil.ca. For more on the outdoor market at the plaza check out www.themarketsquare.ca
