Midsummer Garden and Art Fair draws hardy crowd

PALMER — It was the 5th annual Midsummer Garden and Art Fair last weekend. The Wine Walk and Rhubarb Rumble were on Friday. The Wine Walk had several varieties of wine to sample as attendees wafted jovially through town. The Rhubarb Rumble pitted local restaurants against each other to tussle over which had the tastiest rhubarb creation. The 2017 Rhubarb Rumble winner was Bistro Red Beet’s Old-Fashioned Rhubarb Shortbread.

“Sweets always win these contests,” said Sally Koppenberg, owner of Bistro Red Beet. “You don’t have to make rhubarb into a pie. There are many uses. It’s a phenomenal savory food and can be used in many, many ways.”

Saturday was the day of the main festival, with music, vendors, and art and gardening workshops, and it was a day soaked in rain. Dozens of white pop-up tents were set up in rows of vendors, making a mini-marketplace stretching from the library parking lot to the Palmer City Ale House.

Fifteen different musicians of varying genres performed live throughout the day. There were two stages to choose from — the Hatcher Pass Radio stage by the library and the Palmer City Ale House stage. Local folk bands like Hannah Yoter and Black Water Railroad Company strummed along, drowning out the rain with their music. There were even performances by fire dancers. Some people listened to bands under the protection of the pop up tents, while others danced in the rain.

According to Selena Ortega-Chiolero, Executive Director of the Palmer Museum, the turnout was surprisingly high. She is still crunching the numbers, but estimated that there were more than 1,000 people in attendance for the fair. The vendors were surprised by the surge of people as well, with some even reporting to have done fairly well. She said that she received a lot of positive feedback for the event, rain and all.

“I was overwhelmingly happy and surprised at the people who just stuck it out and came anyways,” Ortega-Chiolero said.

There were four surprise buses that day, with about 40 tourists apiece on them. According to Ortega-Chiolero, those waves of people ultimately benefitted the fair.

“My staff adjusted, they did very well. Our volunteers stepped up. So, it was pretty fantastic,” she said. “This year alone, we have got more buses than ever before at the Visitor Center. Some of these tour companies are starting to realize there is something to Palmer. There’s something special to come and share with their visitors.”

According to Ortega-Chiolero, there was also a substantial turnout for the various art and gardening workshops. She reported a total of 96 people who attended the workshops in the library. There were classes ranging from drawing with color pencils to cultivating cannabis.

“A lot of people seemed to have a good time,” she said.

The fair did shut down early. Vendors packed up 30 minutes before the scheduled 6 p.m. close. The live music is what kept people there. Local artists played until 10 p.m. Families would gravitate to the stage and do rain boot jigs and umbrella twirls.

“We’re not gonna’ let a little rain get us down,” said Tyson Davis, lead singer of Black Water Railroad Company.

There will be a meeting tonight the museum, discussing the future plans for next year’s fair. It is at 6:30 p.m. and open to the public.

They will discuss ideas such as incorporating overnight accommodations with places like the Colony Inn and flowing foot traffic from the wine walk to bars like Klondike Mike’s, so people can keep the party going, efficiently and safely. Ortega-Chiolero hopes to make the fair a three-day, full weekend event.

“I kept hearing a lot of people say, ‘oh yeah, it’s only the real Alaskans that are here,’ ” she laughed.