Graham’s city council gave its recreation department the go-ahead to proceed with plans to resurrect Graham’s most famous street festival, Arts ‘Round the Square, next spring.
Obliquely listed as a “new downtown signature event” on the council’s August 13 agenda, mayor Jennifer Talley didn’t hesitate to announce that she would like the event to be known as “Arts Around the Square,” the name of the annual spring festival that began in 1978 and ran for 25 consecutive years.
Talley said the historic festival name was “well known” and that “people have wanted that to come back” as an annual event. “Why re-invent the wheel?” she posited.
The city’s recreation program manager, Emma Griffin, and Brian Faucette, Graham’s parks and recreation director, presented the proposal to Graham’s city council, suggesting a Saturday, May 17, 2025 date for the first return installment of the festival, which would then be held the third Saturday of May in future years, according to Griffin.
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Griffin outlined the proposal to block off the 100 blocks of North and South Main streets and East and West Elm streets, as well as the city parking lots on West Elm Street and at the corner of East Elm and Marshall streets, for a festival to operate between 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Streets would be closed between 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for the setup beforehand and cleanup afterwards.
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The original Arts ‘Round the Square was sponsored by the Alamance Arts Council as an annual fundraiser for the arts group, but declining crowds and escalating expenses ultimately caused the board of directors of the arts group to announce the end of the festival in 2002, its 25th year, a few weeks before that year’s event.
But Talley and other council members have seemed eager to restore the festival, and paved the way for its restoration by including $50,000 in the city’s budget for the fiscal year that began July 1.
In addition to the booths for artists and artisans, Griffin outlined the possibility of including a car show and “touch a truck” event, as well as a farmers’ market. Downtown merchants would also be urged to set up displays using their storefronts and the sidewalks in front of their businesses.
Four stages would be set up: at the ends of North Main, South Main, and West Elm streets, and in the amphitheater beside Colonial Hardware.
Faucette expressed reservations about reusing the “Arts Around the Square” moniker, although he did not offer an alternative. However, he and Griffin said they would bring the council some naming options at a future council meeting.
Griffin said that the timing of the May 17 event – about a month later than the historic April date for the Arts Council’s arts festival – was chosen to avoid a conflict with neighboring cities’ festivals, Mother’s Day, and high school graduations later in May. Mebane’s Dogwood Festival is typically held in April and Burlington Carousel’s Festival is usually held the first weekend in May.
Before they ended the festival, Arts Council organizers told The Alamance News in 2002 that its budget for the previous year’s event had been $72,000, about $20,000 of which was for bands and other entertainment.
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The festival generated revenue in two ways, organizers told the newspaper that year — a “flat $85” booth rental fee assessed to the roughly 215 arts and craft vendors, as well as a 25 percent share of gross receipts from the 20 food and drink vendors. Corporate sponsors also contributed both money and merchandise.
Griffin assured the council that another annual city-sponsored street festival, Slice of Summer, would continue to be held (typically in June), although “we might have to bump it back a couple of weeks” when the arts festival is restored.
