A 're-emergence': Leesburg Art Festival to take over downtown this weekend
When the Daily Commercial interviewed Richard Colvin, Leesburg Center for the Arts' executive director, his eyes brightened while chatting up the return of the 47th annual Leesburg Art Festival this spring, which will take over Main Street on March 2-3.
With changes and leadership and the recent pandemic, Colvin is promoting this year's festival event, featuring art in just about ever imaginable medium, as the fest's "re-emergence."
Along with visual art and music, you can hear stories and more at a literary festival presented in partnership with the Leesburg Public Library, spotlighting 24 authors reading from and selling their books. Plus, art kids' activities, including printmaking, the Heart of Florida Model A Club, food and beverages, and more can be enjoyed.
Festival events on Saturday include a Beacon College vocal performance at noon on trailer stage by City Hall, Barbara Gomulka on piano on Main Street, the Leesburg High School Orchestra and dance performance on the grass near city hall at 2 p.m. and the “Not Quite Ripe! improv group, "proudly grown at the Melon Patch" at 3 p.m. on the trailer stage near City Hall.
On Sunday, March 3, pianist Barbara Gomulka performs again from 1 to 3 p.m. on Main Street, the Creative Arts Program's "Art of Fashion” show struts the circle around the Town Square fountain at 2 p.m., and at 3 p.m., the “Not Quite Ripe! improv group performs again on the trailer stage near City Hall.
Leesburg-based artist Suzanne Zielinski created the image for this year's festival poster. She works primarily with pastels and painted “Citrus Belle and Venetian Gardens,” the mural located on the corner of Third and Main streets in downtown Leesburg.
Some of Zielinski’s sketches and drawings, works by Colvin and Leesburg High School students' “African American Blues Icons” exhibit at the Leesburg Center for the Arts.
It all takes place on Main Street and in different areas of downtown Leesburg and the Leesburg Center for the Arts, 429 W. Magnolia St., Leesburg, through March 30. Details: leesburgarts.com.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Some call it a comeback: Leesburg Art Festival returns March 2-3
