Free Spirit in Fort Worth

Main Street Art Festival, Fort Worth, TX
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While it is no surprise that Texas is famous for hospitality and a welcome-home approach to practically everything, it was a delight to enjoy an April weekend in  spontaneous, comfortable, and friendly Fort Worth with my nine year-old grandson and not go broke entertaining him. Fort Worth’s Spring Art fFestival and  Botanic Garden gave us so much more for so much less than expensive and exhausting theme parks.  Not too big, not to small, Fort Worth is accessible and friendly.

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Jugglin’, Fiddlin’, and Fine Art

Spontaneous, comfortable, and friendly Fort Worth

For four days each Spring for the last twenty-four years, Fort Worth has spiffed up for its Art Festival. Just lucky, we happened to be in Fort Worth in April and enjoy one Saturday afternoon of art, music, food, and the unexpected. This city is rightfully proud of their annual artistic affair and should be – -- it simply is great entertainment.

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There is no entrance fee or charge for the three main entertainment venues, and the entertainment is top-notch. Everything from fiddlers in ten-gallon hats, to cool jazz saxophone, amazing jugglers, new age light and sound shows, and even a bagpiper fill the soft spring air with music and more.

Evenings, the entertainment heats up as the street lights go on. In addition, there is the Fearless Film Festival with showing during the four days of the festival at the Fort Worth Central Library. The intriguing categories include a Teen Video Fest, Foreign, Narrative, Documentary, Animation, and Music Video.

Kinetic glass and metal outdoor exhibit.
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Fine offerings in a wide range of media were well represented in the juried art show with over two hundred participants. Wide-ranging means just that with glass, fiber, photography, sculpture, painting, woodworking, jewelry, kinetic sculpture, leatherwork, and even more materials for expressing artistic impulses. As an admitted art show addict, the offerings at this show were eye-widening and delightful. The kinetic exhibits were fascinating and fun as was the icon for 2008, Lewis Tardy’s "Raging Bull." This piece, described as biomechanical metal sculpture, is an exquisitely executed combination of raw power and polished technical achievement, was the Best of Show 2008 winner and featured on the advertising for this year’s Art Festival. I bought the t-shirt, the magnet, and the poster, I loved it so much.

Japanese Gardens
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There were free creative activities for children in the Main Street Creates! Section. Try your hand at artistic expression on a hat or sunglasses.

A coupon system for the food venues seemed to keep everything easily organized and flowing. The food offerings, from nostalgic country fair food like funnel cakes and hotdogs to downright startling crawfish plates. Restaurants along Main Street offered sit-down dining and cheerful, busy ambiance. Boutiques and bars join in the fun, too. Lunch at La Madeleine, a regional chain of French bistro-inspired cafés, is inexpensive and surprisingly good. The Chicken Crepes Riveria are freshly prepared, served hot and saucy directly to your table after ordering at the counter. Don’t forget the madeleines, lemony and moist little cakes are scrumptious and one or two are not a diet destroying treat.

Cool Green Sunday Stroll
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While crowded on this warm and sunny Saturday, the atmosphere was neighborly and cordially charming as Texas is always, in my experience.

Easy access to downtown is available by bus or train from outer regions. Parking is available, often at a premium, if you must drive. Already gearing up for next year, check the extensive website at http://www.mainstreetartsfest.org for answers to questions you didn’t even know you had. Maybe I will see you there. This time, luck will have nothing to do with it.

Strolling on a Sunday Afternoon

Fabulous and, best of all, free, the Fort Worth Botanic Garden is an intriguing respite of shady green loveliness, just perfect for a relaxing Sunday in Fort Worth. There is no charge for parking and from the reflection pool with its two bronze jumping frogs, the impression is that this is not just any public garden, this one is fun.

Located just west of downtown, the gardens are a wonderful place for a stroll or a picnic on a Sunday afternoon, and a great place to let the kids out of the car to explore, or just run and play. A collection of several specialty gardens, there is something of interest on and off the many paved pathways. We found tiny frogs, baby birds, turtles, squirrels, fish, and dragonflies and we weren’t even trying.

An interactive adventure awaits along the Texas Native Forest Boardwalk with wonders of nature and history for children and adults. The elevated path winds through native versus invasive species and descriptions of each. Lots of squirrels, which on our visit delighted my nine-year-old grandson, race dizzily through the maze of branches and tree trunks.

A favorite site for weddings and photographers, the Lower Rose Garden was inspired by an Italian Renaissance villa, complete with reflection pool, terraces, and charming vistas. The Oval Rose Garden is equally delightful and, on a bright Spring day, the warm breeze is scented with the dreamy fragrance of thousands of blooms. Relics of Texas pioneers highlight the Republic of Texas Rose Garden containing many roses bred especially for this climate.

There are small entrance fees for both the indoor Conservatory and the Japanese Garden, but both are well worth the few dollars. We especially enjoyed the sociable Koi, swimming turtles, and watchful Blue Heron in the extensive ponds of the Japanese Garden. With pavilions, bridges, and stone paths across the water features, there are touches of whimsy here and there inviting smiles and encouraging playful spirits.

For gardeners, there are the Trial Garden and Water Conservation Garden with interesting native species to tempt green thumb ambitions. For us, though, we were happy to walk the meandering paths and sit in the cool green shade watching families at play and forgetful squirrels at work. While there is a restaurant in the gardens, we brought our own picnic lunch and joined other families with the same idea in one of the broad grassy areas.

The grounds are open every day from 8:00 a.m. until dusk. The Fort Worth Botanic Gardens are located at 3220 Botanic Way, Fort Worth, TX 76107. For special events, check the website at http://www.fwbg.org or call (817)871-7682 for guided tours.