BILLINGS – The 41st annual Summerfair finished Sunday afternoon after storms on Saturday made for some changes.
The three-day Yellowstone Art Museum (YAM) fundraiser came to the Rimrock Mall this year.
“It’s one of the longest running arts and crafts festival in this region,” said Bryan Knicely, YAM executive director. “And one of the things we did in moving it here is just trying to mix it up. We’re trying to bring in new artists.”
Knicely said attendance has been normal and the artists are doing well with sales.
“It’s probably not their ideal location but a lot of the vendors I’ve talked to are either up in sales or where they were last year,” he said. “They sort of joke around and say it’s a double-edged sword because they would like a different venue, but they’re happy with their money.”
Hayden Duncan led off the music performances for Sunday.
The storms forced him to cancel his time on stage Saturday.
Some artists left because of weather, so the Yellowstone Art Museum made it a free admission day.
Summerfair provides a chance to learn and understand art.
“Anything that makes someone smile, there’s usually some artist or art form as part of that process,” Knicely said.
Knicely said a museum committee will look at this year’s event and make a decision on where to hold Summerfair in 2020.
