2024 ComFest in Goodale Park Columbus OH
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- ComFest (for Community Festival) is an annual event that goes on in Goodale Park, in Columbus OH's Short North District. It began in 1972 as a community event for political activism and social justice.
This year, it runs from 6/28-6/30 and has a multitude of performance artists, music and more, tons of booths with crafts and activism as well as lots and lots of food trucks of very taste.
What I am showing is but a small taste of the variety and the inclusive nature of the event.
Plan Ahead! Here's more information, straight from the horse's mouth!
www.comfest.co...
Laugh, love, eat and learn this weekend at the 2024 ComFest!
Hey!...Glad you are here documenting this year's Comfest,...In my youth I attended it from almost the very beginning. I think it started in 1972, across from OSU campus, on Iuka Ave. I began attending in 1977, soon after I arrived to attend OSU for graduate school, in Fine Arts.
I went to it every year, even after it moved to the streets, in front of, but not in Goodale Park, in The Short North. Eventually, after a few years, they were granted permission to go into Goodale Park. My artist friends and I decided we wanted to have a booth at COMFEST,...and we began doing just that starting in the early 1980s. Back then, those white "pop-up" tents didn't exist, so most participants, built their own booths. Some erected Yurts, others built mini log cabins, and lean-to structures. By 1982, I had a art studio, in a warehouse, downtown. So we designed a semi-portable wooden structure. Using narrow boards, that bolted together, and blue tarps, we created something that fit in my mini-van. Each year we improved it,....making it lighter and easier to assemble. Then Costco started selling those "E-Z-Up" brand portable tents, in a variety of sizes and they kept getting less costly. Most of us switched over to using them. One person can set up those portable booth tents, although it goes real fast with 2 people. 10 foot square tents are best. Lighting can be hung on the inside. By 1999,....that was my last year of doing a booth, with my friends. They continued on, and still collaborate, to set one up. Hey, we got old, we're all in our 70s, in 2024. When I quit in 1999, I was only 46. I had just bought a house, in The Old North, and gave up my warehouse studio. Some of my buddies have their own children, who help out, and some have other younger friends, who contribute. I still support it in spirit. Peace to all, and enjoy!
Great video and thanks for posting. My 1st Comfest was 1973 when it was held near the old food coop on 16th. I last
attended the summer of 1977 when I graduated and received my OSU diploma. I miss the pageantry and the music of folks
like Willie Phoenix.
Thank you for documenting some of my set. I think it starts around 19 mins into the video!! Happy Comfest!!
During the years I collaborated with my Artist friends, I sold custom, artsy, sculpted table lamps and small tables. I used make collages, from old 1940s Detective magazine graphics. My girlfriend used to make wonderful hand puppets,.....with cloth bodies, and paper art faces and heads, they were fantasy animals. I also bought some paintings and collectibles from other booths, that I still have. One year I won a raffle, and got a huge fun painting, from local artist Paul Volker. I loved the food from the local vendors,....not the commercial stuff. Many local restaurants, and small batch food sellers, had booths. I wasn't a snob, and ate the commercial foods too. Funnel cakes, and corn dogs. I was one of the first booths to run a "Spin Art" machine, that people paid to make their own creations. Then my friends took over the operation and improved it. I volunteered many times, as an after hours clean up crew member, picking up stuff off the grass,....making sure it was clean as we found it. I was very successful selling my small lamps and tables. One year I sold one for $500.00. It was a large lamp, that was over 5 foot tall. My art tables were in the $50.00 range. My collages of old time advertisements from the 1940s, paper art items, sold for $10.00 to $25.00. A few years I sold, some commercial items,.....I found a low cost, line of John Lennon-like round lens sunglasses, with the narrow metal wire frames. I preferred selling art I made.
The music is Top Notch,..all local bands. They used to have a Jazz groups stage. The Gazebo musicians are always great. Eclectic bands.There is something for every musical taste. I think they have curtailed the spontaneous Drum circles,...there were many and anyone could join them,.....they played their hearts out, in the heat of the day the were always fun and tribal, too. Some booths would have poetry readings, others small one act plays. In the early years, in the 80s the festival went on later into the wee hours of the night,.....that was before The Short North, became home to wealthy condo owners. In the 80s,...no one lived down there, there weren't any new apartments. So if Comfest was still cooking late,.....no one cared and no one was disturbed. Now they close it down at a reasonable hour. In the early years we could sleep in the park, in our booths,....small tents were allowed. Though no fires or cooking was ever allowed. Hard to believe, in the 1970s and early 1980s, The Short North area was considered a slum. Bums and winos owned the streets, they slept in the burnt out buildings, and doorways.
By the mid 1980s, that all changed. Old buildings were renovated, and new ones started being built. Now,...it is a whole different place. More like the home to the wealthiest folks. The elite and wealthy. Oh well, I got to be a part of the area and vibe, when it was still a little funky, and you didn't have to be wealthy to hang out there. There a lot of interesting Dive Bars, and quirky, old-timers bars. There were hundreds of closed businesses,....and Artists could rent a whole store front, a former business building for around $100.00 a month, all utilities included. People lived in the back rooms, and turned the old showrooms into art galleries. These were really fun times, and no one needed a lot of money.
I missed Vidas Vegan Butcher- wonder what was on the menu now. I guess long-time vendor Whole World is no longer on the strip?