It’s been 33 years now since a great cultural tradition debuted in downtown Harrisburg. The event — a gathering of artists and craftsmen from Pennsylvania and surrounding states — was extraordinarily successfully and over the years has become one of the most notable festivals in the nation.

Artsfest, taking place each year over the long Memorial Day holiday weekend, has become the city’s customary "welcome to summer" celebration. With its 250 craft vendors, 50 food merchants, and 300 volunteers, Sunshine Artist Magazine has consistently deemed the festival in recent years as one of the best exhibitor’s shows in the country. What hasn’t been so consistent, however, is the show’s venue, which has some attendees and vendors a bit perturbed.

At the heart of the matter is last year’s move to Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) from the festival’s familiar setting along Riverfront Park downtown. HACC served as Artsfest’s fourth venue following several generally successful years along the Susquehanna. But it had taken many years of trial and error to find that "just right" location that would bring Artsfest to its current success.

When the Artsfest inaugural took place in the late 1960s, it was located on the Plaza Level of the State Museum. This building underwent renovations in the late 1980s, and the event moved to Soldier’s Grove behind the Capitol Complex. This shaded, grassy area proved to be far too small for the crowds that gathered, and a search was instituted to find a new site. The Greater Harrisburg Arts Council (GHAC) (which dedicates a whopping two staff members to organize the annual event) finally decided that the riverfront was the place to be.

"We wanted to showcase and revitalize the downtown area," notes GHAC Artsfest coordinator Robert Steadnycki. "By holding the festival in Riverfront Park, we could bring commerce into town."

And it worked — for a while. In 1999, the city renovated the Front Street entrance to the Walnut Street Bridge (now Swenson Plaza), which serves as a major traffic area for Artsfest patrons. Due to the construction, GHAC had to find a new — albeit temporary — location for the 1999 Artsfest celebration. HACC stepped up to the plate to host the transient event. With its open spaces and shade trees, the facility seemed to have something for everyone. Well, not everyone.

When word first came out in the spring that Artsfest was moving to HACC, many of the event’s regular visitors felt GHAC was moving the festival simply for the purpose of moving to a different site, not believing that there was construction in and around the bridge, or even that it would have any effect on the event. Vendors, however, looked forward to the change, citing riverfront drawbacks like airborne dirt and dust from the walking path, overcrowding, and the stretch customers had to walk to see every booth.

As the festival began at its interim site last year, visitors were greeted with an unforeseen disadvantage to the relocation. Before they could even step out of their cars to enjoy the new digs at HACC, they had to shell out money for parking — something that they could avoid when the festival took place in Riverfront Park. While many privately owned lots downtown charge for parking, GHAC traditionally arranged for the city’s parking garages to remain open so that visitors could park for free and the benevolent City of Harrisburg also allowed patrons to park at the street meters at no charge.

But once they got to the festival at HACC, visitors were pleasantly surprised. No more shoulder-to-shoulder crowds; there was plenty of open space for strolling around to each of the vendors. The space wasn’t too great, though, that patrons felt they couldn’t see everything over the three-day event. (Many riverfront visitors had complained that the festival’s expanse was too long for them to walk.) And, as last year’s Artsfest fell on a hellishly hot weekend, there was plenty of shade available for people to duck under and escape the perilous heat.

The vendors, however, were not as happy. They were rid of the traffic-swept dirt they had previously complained about, but because of the new location and parking fee, they were also rid of the crowds they saw along the river. Steadnicky concedes that turnout dropped a bit because of the paid parking, but states that in charging the nominal fee, GHAC was able to raise $20,000 for a HACC scholarship. Vendors felt that HACC was too sprawling and that as a result their booth traffic took a hit, hurting their bottom line. They fail to remark on the fact that their registration cost was lower, to offset this expected problem. New artisans to the festival were particularly upset, stating that they didn’t see Artsfest as the great event that veteran merchants touted it to be and vowed not to return. However, it’s important to remember that new vendors chronically complain of disappointment at such events.

Perhaps because of vendor complaints, despite the grievances GHAC has heard in the last year, and despite petitions from HACC, Artsfest 2000 is set to return to Riverfront Park May 27 – 29 with notable changes. Foremost, the dirt is no longer a factor. During the Swenson Plaza construction, the walkways along the park were paved to create sidewalks. And for the faint of exercise that complained about the festival’s size: Either get new walking shoes or stay home. This year’s event will take over Front Street from Forster to Market Streets, not stopping at Walnut as it had in previous years. GHAC has expanded the children’s Cultural Avenue previously located between Locust and Walnut and dedicated the stretch between Walnut and Market Streets as a kids’ area with a variety of entertainment, including the Popcorn Hat Players, Susquehanna Arts VanGo! exhibit, and arts and crafts.

Another advance for this year is the festival’s extension up Market Street to the Hilton Towers and new Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, which will accommodate the entertainment stages. The main stage will remain at Kunkel Plaza at State Street, but the new entertainment locations have been created to establish locations clear of the vendors. And for the gluttons who could care less about the art and go straight for the edible fare, the food court for this year’s event has been completely redesigned and should be a treat even for the novice.

A return to the close quarters along the river may not please everyone, but it keeps most visitors and vendors happy. Visitors find it easy to get to, while vendors contend that the event is created and visited by some of the friendliest people on the circuit. As one of the most popular arts and crafts shows in the country, the crowds are sure to grow, but there are no plans to expand the festival in mileage. This may turn some people away, but you’ll certainly never hear a vendor say they have too many customers. And as for the visitors who claim the distance is too far to walk and there are too many merchants to see in one day, that’s why it’s a three-day event.

So is HACC sorry to see Artsfest return to the riverfront? Yes, Steadnicky says, and although a spokeswoman for the community college couldn’t elaborate, she said that they enjoyed playing host but understood that it was a temporary situation. When asked if GHAC ever considered relocating Artsfest to HACC permanently, Steadnicky said that comments were mixed, but the purpose of the event’s move to Riverfront Park was to revitalize downtown activity and showcase the venue and the businesses that populate it. Barring future construction projects or other man-made disasters, Artsfest has found its home.