Michael Donahue
GrrlPunch Magazine had a booth at the Cooper-Young Festival
I WALK when I’m at the Cooper-Young Festival. I rarely sit down. So, this year, for three hours I walked – beginning at Young and McLean around 4 p.m. and continuing up and down Cooper until I ended up back at my car after 7 p.m.
But I had nothing on Cooper-Young Business Association executive director Tamara Cook.
“I walked 26 miles between 4 in the morning and 8:00 (p.m.),” she says. “I went to bed Saturday at 10 and woke up at 3 in the afternoon. I was so exhausted.”
About 120,000 attended this year’s event, which was held September 15th, Cook says. They were “just a little lower” than last year. “We had an early crowd. At 10, the streets were packed. I think the heat just got everybody. By 4:30 p.m., we were seeing holes in the crowd, which we normally don’t see.”
There were a lot of children at the festival, she says. “We had a lot of kids this year. I noticed that. We had a nice, family crowd.”
But, Cook says, “Every art dealer I talked to said they were selling like hot cakes.”
As for the food vendors, she says, “Nobody was eating. Everybody was drinking lemonade, water, smoothies. Everybody had some kind of liquid in their hands.”
It was hot, but, she says, “At least we didn’t have any rain. R-A-I-N.”
She found a wallet that belonged to man who lived in West Chapel, Florida. They found the man later that night on Facebook and sent him a private message. “We were texting back and forth. I said, ‘I found your wallet with your credit cards.’ He said, ‘Just shred it.’ I said, ‘I’ll mail it to you. You’ll need it. I’m going to put it in between a festival T-shirt and mail it.'”
The man obviously is a Cooper-Young Festival fan. He said, “We come every year.”
Michael Donahue
Cooper-Young Festival
Michael Donahue
Cooper-Young Festival
Michael Donahue
Cooper-Young Festival
………..
Michael Donahue
Coltrane Duckworth plays Chinese drums in front of Mulan Bistro.
Budding Ringo Starrs, John Bonhams, Ginger Bakers?
If you ever wanted to play drums in front of a crowd, this year’s Cooper-Young Festival was your chance. You could have played in front of some 120,000 people.
All you had to do was ask Coltrane Duckworth if you could borrow his drumsticks.
Duckworth, guitarist in Aquarian Blood, braved the heat between 2 and 8 p.m., playing Chinese drums in front of Mulan Asian Bistro.
“They do it every year,” he said. “I was just doing my part. I was just kind of in charge and trying to get people who wanted to play. Try to give everybody a chance. Some people volunteered and I asked some people.”
………….
QUICK PIX
MIchael Donahue
Dylan Giddens at Felicia Suzanne’s.
Michael Donahue
Billy and Hannah Orgel at Union and Front.
Michael Donahue
Jack Frost Da Blowman and Money Money at a Mississippi convenience store.
Justin Von Stein and Courtney Diebold at Gibson’s Donuts.
[slideshow-1]
