Stay away, rain

Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival 2023 sculpts jam-packed weekend of art, food & entertainment

Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival - always a highlight of the spring calendar - is coming back for its remarkable 36th year. "Main St.," as fans know and love it, will take place April 20-23, 2023 in downtown Fort Worth. (Look how cool and easy-to-remember that date is.)

The event, presented by PNC Bank, will once again be family- and dog-friendly, free to attend, and jam-packed with arts, entertainment, and food across 18 square blocks and centered on Main Street.

According to a release, this year's lineup includes 215 jury-selected visual artists, live music on two stages, authentic local cuisine, the family-friendly “TCC Makers Zone,” craft beer, wine tastings, and more.

Let's start praying to the weather gods for a nice weekend and take a closer look:

Art
The main reason for the festival's existence, Main St.'s 2023 outdoor gallery will showcase 215 artists who were hand-selected to exhibit their work from nearly 1,000 applications, organizers say. "An estimated $4 million worth of art is expected to be sold from local, regional, and national artists representing 15 artistic media, including sculpture, painting, photography, wood, glass, jewelry, metalwork, printmaking, mixed media, and more," the promise.

Artists will include: 2022 Best of Show-winner Karen Libecap (painting), Best Emerging Artist Jeribai Andrew-jaja (drawing), and Merit Award-winners Richard Wilson (drawing), Adam Crowell (wood), James Pearce (wood), Kina Crow (mixed media), Steven & Beth Radtke (mixed media), Marge Margulies (ceramics), and Robin Lauersdorf (drawing).

Another 30 or so Tarrant County artists were selected to exhibit, including Anne Cubbage, Christopher Curtis, Thomas Diel, Sarah Murphy, Ralinda Owens, Pamela Summers, Tyler Wagner, and more.

Entertainment
Two different stages will feature entertainers ranging from Southern rock bands and jazz keyboardists to R&B groups and Tejano vocalists, the release says. Headliners include Fort Worth’s favorite cover band Poo Live Crew, jazz vocalist Tatiana “LadyMay” Mayfield, New Orleans’ funk & RB quintet Galactic with special guest Anjelika Jelly Joseph, Southern rock band Them Dirty Roses, Harlem-based blues artist King Soloman Hicks, alternative roots rock artist Bones Owens, '80s rock band DadRock, Tejano powerhouse vocalist Monica Saldivar, and many more. For more information, visit “Music on MAIN.”

Food & drink
Arrive hungry and thirsty. This year's culinary offers will include dishes prepared by top local chefs and long-standing festival vendors across five food courts. There'll be Texas barbecue, spicy fried chicken, zesty steak fajitas, original corn dogs, and more. Beverage offerings include mojitos, craft brews, and the ever-popular “Wine Experience” hosted by City Center, which pours select wines-by-the-glass from Chloe and Imagery wines.

For the kids
Main St.'s “TCC Makers Zone,” located at the north end of Main Street, will offer creative, hands-on activities for children of all ages. Live demonstrations on themes such as space, pottery, robotics, clay, photography, art, and more will be presented, along with other activities such as invention stations, sand art, caricatures, and face painting, organizers say. A new highlight for 2023: the PNC Bank Mobile Learning Center.

For planning purposes, Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival 2023 hours will be: Thursday, April 20: 10 am-10 pm; Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22: 10 am-11 pm; and Sunday, April 23: 10 am-8 pm. For more information, visit/follow along on the event's website and social media pages.

Photo courtesy of Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival

Fort Worth's favorite downtown festival returns April 20-23, 2023.

Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival 2023 PNC Bank downtown festivals

Party Is Over

Party City chain to close all stores including 9 in Fort Worth

Party City

A chain of stores where the party is always going on is closing down: Party City will close all of its stores and has initiated layoffs, effective immediately. According to CNN, CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees that Party City has to “commence a winddown process immediately,” and that Friday would be their last day of work for the company.

However, the actual store locations, including those around North Texas, will be open until February 28.

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, Party City is largest party goods retailer in the U.S. — the go-to destination for every type of celebration, with more than 700 company-owned and franchise store locations across North America selling home decor, candles, balloons, wrapping paper, tableware, bulk candy, baking supplies, and more.

A typical Party City store ranges in size from 10,000 to 12,000 square feet and carries approximately 30,000 items. Halloween accounts for as much as one-quarter of yearly sales, but they celebrate all seasonal holidays, from New Year's Eve to the Fourth of July to Father's Day to Super Bowl Sunday, and offer a wide array of merchandise for birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, wedding and bridal showers, and baby showers.

Party and costume merchandise has become more competitive in recent years, with companies like the budget-focused Spirit Halloween expanding beyond its Halloween pop-ups into “Spirit Christmas” stores, as well as competition from Amazon and other online retailers.

In 2023, the chain filed for bankruptcy, then emerged with a plan that included transitioning into a privately held company and canceling nearly $1 billion in debt. At that time, there were approximately 800 U.S. stores.

There are 64 stores in Texas, with 9 in the Fort Worth area, as follows:

Arlington
Burleson
Denton
Euless
Fort Worth
Hurst
Lake Worth
Mansfield
Watauga

Dallas-Fort Worth stores have already started sales between 5 and 50 percent off.

holidays closings