When it's the August long weekend in Bronte Harbour, that only means one thing: the annual return of "Art in the Park", Oakville's biggest art show, market, and midsummer event.
An estimated 4,500 visitors came out to Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park yesterday, August 5, 2024, to see hundreds of artists' work at the Oakville Art Society's annual show.
"It’s awesome seeing a lot of people coming out and admiring art," says event organizer Sabine Frisch. "There’s variety in all the artists. As organizers, that alone makes us happy.”
Frisch has been the lead organizer of events with the Oakville Art Society for several years. She estimates that the nice weather (and second year of thunderstorms staying clear of the park) led to an attendance increase for 2024: "This year we’ll be close to 5,000 people."
"It has to be a beautiful day for Art in the Park to be a success, and we got this today. Art is the most inspiring part of this. I’m blown away all of the artists on the grounds here."
This year's event featured 181 booths with the work of more than 200 artists. The annual waitl ist for artists to have a booth for the day is nearly double the capacity of the park.
But organizers give the greatest credit to the volunteers - all 40 of them working throughout the day to make it all happen.
Volunteer Coordinator Emma Carter says,"My favourite part is the volunteers and how much effort they put in. Even the vendors say the volunteers work so hard."
"We couldn’t do this without the volunteers. Their openness and willingness to volunteer is great. That's the best word for it."