Beyond the booths: Why this annual Syracuse festival matters to artists

Mike Miller and his wife, Dee, carefully arrange their display of handcrafted wooden flowers at a stall for their Michigan-based business, D&M Wooden Flowers and Vases, near Columbus Circle in downtown Syracuse. 

As the sun rises overhead Saturday, a cluster of curious attendees pause to admire the rich colour and elegant finishes of their work. The Millers worked side by side, chatting with festivalgoers and sharing the stories behind their handcrafted pieces. 

“We’ve been doing shows since 1999, so we’re just coming up on our 27th year,” Mike Miller said. “This is a three-day festival, which gives people time to think about it [buying], once they see our work. So that aspect’s nice. So yeah, we’ve really enjoyed Syracuse.”

For more than five decades, the annual Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival has been more than just a market for artists and businesses like D&M Wooden Flowers and Vases; it is a place to nurture relationships with residents. In its 54th iteration this year, the festival that took place Friday through Sunday welcomed more than 140 artists in disciplines ranging from food and ceramics to textiles and jewelry. 

Downtown Committee of Syracuse executive director Merike Treier said the festival is part of the committee’s broader mission: revitalizing the city’s downtown. She sees the event as a showcase for both economic development and cultural vibrancy, a place where arts, commerce, and community intersect.

“This is a bit of a different festival in that it puts you right in downtown Syracuse, so you can start to explore the architecture and culture of the space,” Treier said. “And why we started this years ago was to give people a reason to come into downtown Syracuse.”

True to her word, the festival is the beating heart of the city and transforms the areas around Onondaga, Jefferson and Montgomery streets into a vibrant tableau of creativity, music, performances, and interactive family activities like the Stay Fresh Chalk Jam. The event draws locals as well as visitors and artists from various regions, infusing energy and connection into the city’s core.

Dragonfly Jams and Jellies owner Eric Sugrue emphasized that festivals such as this also provided an easy way to interact with and attract potential customers in an organized way.

“I think it’s a really great way for artists to connect with the community,” Sugrue said. “It’s really easy for people to come to the show and see a bunch of different artists all coming together in one place. It just drives a lot of the community together, having fun in a really nice, safe space.”

For attendees, the Arts and Crafts Festival offered a chance to discover businesses, products and artists that they otherwise would not have had a chance of knowing. Apoorva Edla, a Syracuse University graduate student and first-time festival attendee, said she was impressed with the diversity in art that was showcased throughout, which helped her appreciate the various art forms that were present.

“For someone like me who is horrible at painting or drawing or any sort of art for that matter, I still enjoy going to these events,” Edla said. “And as an audience and viewer, it makes me feel good.”

For artists and business owners like the Millers, festivals like these are an opportunity to earn their livelihood and also gain loyal clientele along the way by engaging in personal conversations and building relationships with their customers.

“It’s very, very important for the city, not only to showcase the city but to bring together artists, different perspectives and mindsets and different types of artworks,” Mike Miller said. “It gives people an idea of what creativity looks like in an open space, and I think it’s so important for cities and towns to continue to do this.”

Photo by Manaswini Pillai

Giant, hand-carved sculptures were on sale Saturday near downtown Syracuse’s Columbus Circle during the Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival.