Upcoming bevies of mouth-watering foods, artwork, live music and more are expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors to downtown Coeur d’Alene this weekend.

The city’s 34th annual Street Fair, slated for Friday through Sunday, includes more than 250 vendors and spans seven blocks in the downtown area. 

Organizers of the three-day festival, which also includes face painting, henna tattoos and clothing vendors, anticipate attracting at least 60,000 people to the area between Friday and Sunday.

“You don't really get the great location and the amazing atmosphere and a great community event anywhere else,” said Mackenzie Macomber, marketing coordinator for the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association. “It’s something I definitely and everyone else looks forward to.”

Street Fair also coincides with the 38th annual Taste of Coeur d’Alene and the 58th annual Art on the Green events. Both festivals are slated Friday through Sunday.

Art on the Green, expected to draw up to 5,000 people each day, is a collection of local and out-of-town artists selling their pieces. This year’s event, which takes place near the Edminster Student Union Building at North Idaho College, includes 106 adult and 14 youth artists.

“This is one of their biggest shows,” Anne Solomon, event organizer and Citizens' Council for the Arts treasurer, said of the artists. “They love coming to Coeur d’Alene.”  

Visitors in the downtown Coeur d’Alene area this weekend also have a chance to enjoy 19 performances slated over three days during Taste of Coeur d’Alene, which is free to the public. This event takes place at City Park and features more than 130 art and craft vendors, as well as a beer garden.

According to the Idaho Panhandle Kiwanis Club website, the festival’s fine art and crafts are showcased al fresco. Live professional music and a variety of quality foods and beverages, including a beer garden featuring local micro brews, are also featured at the festival.

The tens of thousands of visitors in Coeur d'Alene this weekend will be shifting between all three festivals. Free shuttles to NIC will be provided, with pickup and drop-off locations at Third Street and Sherman Avenue, Seventh Street and Sherman Avenue, and the NIC Student Union Building in downtown Coeur d'Alene. 

The shuttle operates from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, with buses arriving every 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, Sherman Avenue will be closed from the intersection of Lakeside and Northwest Boulevard to Seventh Street beginning 9 p.m. Thursday through 6 p.m. Sunday, according to the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association.

With so much going on, check out the finer details of each event below.

STREET FAIR

Street Fair originally began as an evening sidewalk sale with downtown retailers before evolving into what it is today, Macomber said.

The festival is almost as old as the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association itself, which was established in 1990 to manage the area’s business district.

Now, its hundreds of vendors include fine arts, unique goods, traditional street food vendors, clothing and more. 

“We have some of the best food vendors ever,” Macomber said. “They’re absolutely incredible.”

The festival is great for all ages and is ADA accessible. 

For more information, visit cdadowntown.com/cda-events/downtown-street-fair/ 

Street Fair hours are: 

• 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday
• 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday
• 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday

ART ON THE GREEN

It’s made up of 32 tons of sand. It stands 11 feet tall. It takes up to seven days to create.

This is the giant sandcastle featured at Art on the Green. On Wednesday afternoon, artist Scott Dodson and his sons, Ben and Jon, were busy shoveling sand and smoothing the castle’s coarse facade. 

“Shoveling sand has gotten a little easier over the years,” Ben joked.

This is the 28th year the Dodsons are displaying their sandcastle, which Scott said doesn’t resemble any particular castle in the world. Instead, it’s “whatever it wants to be.” 

This year’s Art on the Green received 280 applications from prospective artists before a panel selected the final number of participants, according to Solomon. Visitors can find local Idaho artists like Jessica Bryant, Ezekiel Fee and Sage Pedersen this year.

The festival, which was founded with the help of longtime locals Patrick and Sue Flammia in 1969, includes a juried show with $3,500 in prizes. Pieces will also be donated to Treaty Rock School in Post Falls as well as the city of Coeur d’Alene.

Meanwhile, there will be free entertainment on two stages, a food court, a beer garden and a children’s art garden. 

For more information, visit artonthegreencda.com 

Art on the Green hours are: 

• 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Friday
• 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Saturday
• 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
  
  

TASTE OF COEUR D'ALENE

The Taste of Coeur d’Alene began in 1989 and is a community fundraiser put on by the Idaho Panhandle Kiwanis Club. 

Information on its website states the festival is a juried high-quality art and craft show that accepts a variety of handcrafted mediums, combined with a wide variety of food vendors, primarily from the local area.

In addition to its 130 vendors, this year’s event features bands straight from Coeur d’Alene and neighboring areas. This includes the city’s own Current Flow, Tamarack Ridge Band and Strange Brew. 

For more information, visit panhandlekiwanis.org/taste-of-cda.html

Taste of Coeur d’Alene hours are:

• Noon to 8 p.m. Friday
• 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday
• 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday