Day After the Weekend Before

Art in the Park in the Glebe is over for another year. This year? HOT. We went from 18C on Wednesday to 21 Thursday to 29 Friday and 31's Saturday and Sunday for the show. There wasn't any time for any of us Northerners to acclimatize to the hot, hazy and humid conditions. Summer is here. And as I discovered when I unpacked the car a few minutes ago, summer stayed with us overnight and we're in for another day, same as before. There was one Art In the Park where the humidex got to 46, (we reached 39 and 41 this weekend) and then it rained, and then it was like a steam bath. So, this weekend could have been worse weather-wise. The severe thunder and lightning never materialized and we had a fantastic spot with shade in the morning, then a bit of sun, then shade again. Very enjoyable.

The show was big.
Here's an overview of all the tent-tops looking down into the park.
You can't see them all in this shot... There were as many booths behind me.














This was my tent and my view looking out.














Every year it grows. Many Ottawans had a glazed over look. A show this size and this interesting is unexpected in this city, especially in a city park. Couple that with hot hazy and humid and many people were just overwhelmed, looking for the tent where they can get a cold drink and take a breather before heading off to see "what else is here", and trying not to miss a row of booths in the meandering booth layout. There were a lot of first-time visitors this year. It's a good sign of a healthy show.

The mix of things is changing. Used to be almost all paintings at one time. Now many types of art are represented. For me this is the show that really grounds me in my life as someone who goes out there and sells their work. It kicks off my season and I saw many people who I may only see once a year and that's always good.

This guy is only at this show. But I see him every year. What you can't get from the pictures is he has a musical soundtrack with him. Some medieval music for the knight and some marching song for the Mountie getup.
He came as a medieval knight on Saturday.
And a Mountie on Sunday.


Since we were beside a food tent, I saw him without the horse for the first time ever. He was bathed in sweat. As we all suspected, his costume is really hot.

If you didn't get there this year there are two more Art's in the Park coming up: In Minto Park across from Jack Purcell in mid July and Strathcona Park in mid August. The Glebe Art in the Park was the first one and is by far the biggest. Come and support the new ones too. Meanwhile see you at the farmers' markets...