For one family, a rock sandblasted with a little girl’s name was the big find. Within a few feet of that, a 26-year-old woman picked up the artisan cheese board made of granite she has wanted for a while.
So goes the Frankfort Fall Festival, which brings artists and crafters to the south suburb for one final summer celebration.
Sweltering heat and stifling humidity that hit much of the suburbs this weekend wasn’t enough to keep the crowds away from Will County village’s annual arts festival.
Organizers estimate between 200,000 and 250,000 people meandered through the street vendors, beer tent, carnival and stage area at the festival, which started Wednesday with the carnival and finished Labor Day. The festival also hosts a large parade on Sunday.
Don Olivieria is chairman of the Frankfort Fall Festival. He grew up in Frankfort and has been a part of the massive event since 1994.
More than 160 volunteers helped organize the 300 artists from across the country, while tens of thousands strolled the booths in downtown Frankfort daily.
“At any one time, we have 40,000 to 50,000 people here,” Olivieria said
The festival has received national recognition for its effort to promote artists, crafters and artisans. The Sunshine Artisans magazine ranked Frankfort’s festival eighth in the nation last year, based on surveys of participating artisans.
Frankfort’s festival can be a lucrative venture for artists, who travel as far away as Idaho, Michigan and Kansas to attend, Olivieria said. He estimates sales of works reaches in the millions of dollars in total.
“I’m sure it’s in the seven figures,” he said.
The artists aren’t the only ones who benefit. Proceeds from food booths go to local civic organizations running them. And the festival’s beer tent is sponsored by area groups.
Pam Jensen picked up a set of coasters made by abstract impressionist Robert Cornman, who drove up from the St. Louis, Mo., suburb of Sunset Hill to operate a booth featuring his works.
“I like to do stained glass,” said Jensen, a 41-year-old Frankfort resident, who has been coming to the festival for years. “The shininess of it made it look like stained glass.”
Jensen said she is happy organizers brought in new artisans to set up shop in the festival street booths.
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“A lot of the time, it seems like they were putting the same vendors in the same areas,” she said.
Olivieria said 60 new artisans were added to the festival roster this year.
Just a few streets away, the abstract art, representatives from The Master Blasters were selling their personalized rocks to a steady stream of customers.
Mokena couple Brandon and Rachel MuCurdy picked up one of the blasted rocks for their 4-year-old daughter, Avery.
Rachel runs The Talking Shirt, a small t-shirt business located on South La Grange Road. She said she supports local businesses and was happy to pick up an item produced by a local company.
“You’re supporting the individual person,” Rachel said of buying from a local business. “You’re not supporting a corporation.”
For 26-year-old Danielle Bobor of Plainfield, a purchase at the Frankfort Fall Fest was the end of a 2-year search for the perfect craft item. She had seen a similar cutting board to the ones sold by Khitam Nassar, the owner of Khitams Granite in Bridgeview.
Bobor said it was her first year that she and her husband Justin, 31, had attended the festival, despite being urged for years by family to go.
“And it will definitely not be out last,” she said
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter.