Planning begins for Hillsborough's Last Fridays

Members at an annual planning meeting for a popular Hillsborough street festival series said Saturday that this year's festival will require more work than in previous years, but they are confident it will remain successful.

Once a month, from April through October, the Hillsborough Arts Council hosts Last Fridays, all-day events that include vendors, music and artists displaying their work to the public.

Saturday's meeting gave anyone interested a chance to discuss issues facing this year's festivals and suggest areas for improvement.

The top issues discussed among the roughly 20 people in attendance included this year's themes, regulating vendors, entertainment and promotional ideas.

John Delconte, president of the Arts Council, facilitated the planning session.

"I thought the meeting was very productive," Delconte said. "There was a lot of ideas and a lot of energy."

The main outgrowth of the meeting was the formation of volunteer committees to plan and follow through with suggested ideas.

"The meeting was good because it involved a divergent part of the community who are interested in planning this event," said Jerry Morris, treasurer of the Arts Council.

"It's now a matter of committees doing their work at this point," he added.

An issue provoking considerable discussion Saturday was whether to regulate commercial vendors.

The problem, local merchants said, is that commercial vendors set up stalls during Last Fridays and compete with local downtown businesses, who depend on Last Fridays for extra business.

Julia Williams, who owns Brick Alley Books and Little Luxuries with her husband, said commercial vendors need to be regulated or kept out of Last Fridays.

But she added that the artists showing nonmanufactured work should not be included in that group because they are vital to the festival.

In previous years commercial vendors have not been a problem, but over the years the festival has grown and attracted more people, resulting in such problems.

"Merchants agree that Last Fridays are a wonderful thing," Williams said. "We need to remind people of the interesting and viable downtown."

In the past five years of the festival's existence, it has steadily grown into a community-wide event.

"Last Fridays started out as a small indoor event at the Artist Coop," Delconte said.

The event, hosted by the Arts Council from its inception, now has an average attendance of more than 500 people.

"The main point is: Not only is the event growing in perception of the public, but also in community involvement," Delconte said.

He said the event can be best described as a street festival.

"The event fits hand and glove with the structure of the community, which is ... small, compact, and walkable."

He said the event is geared mainly toward families, and the council has not done work to attract attendees such as University students.

But, he said, all are encouraged to attend.

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