ArtSplash Dives Into Carlsbad September 24-25

Yoyos flying like wild dervishes in the air. Chalk art masterpieces coming to life on the street. Fern Street Circus acrobats abounding and astounding with buskars adding to the entertainment on the street. A veritable feast of continuous live music. A Family Art Carnival offering a merry-go-round of “make it and take it” crafts with a focus on recycling, from newspaper hats to wetsuit-fabric fish. Children of all ages sharing great fun under the Carlsbad sun. The happy hum of thousands of people and beguiling buzz of unfettered creativity soaring on a scenic site overlooking the blue Pacific.

Yes, it’s time again!

This year’s festival theme is “Rock Around the Beach.” Longtime ArtSplash artists Ron Juncal and Phyllis Swanson of Carlsbad-based Studio 2 will transform their “Rock Around the Beach” icon into a living work of art that is not only interactive but 3D. Juncal explains, “When event-goers perch on the very back of the 22-foot-diameter record, the effect from the front will be fabulous. For a minimal cost, a professional artist will take and instantly print photos of people as they take a spin on the record.”

In the pursuit of more spin, visitors can enjoy what Chris Cravens and Vu Dang of Dang Good Yoga say is a therapeutic as well as fun calorie-burning activity: hula hooping. They’ll demonstrate this hip-again fad and get people hooping on their colorful, custom-crafted hoops of varying sizes and weights, many of which will be available for purchase.

Armada Drive will pulsate with awesome entertainment, including the Duo Tones’ surf sounds, Forty Proof’s classic rock, Crew’s high-energy antics, Shokenji Taiko drummers, KUSI’s Dave Scott and his New Slide trombone quartet and Carlsbad High’s championship Lancer Dancers and Xcalibur Dance teams. Fern Street Circus will appear on Sunday.

Interactive art will be featured in many formats. Inspired by watching professional chalk artists create museum-quality replicas, kids and adults can try their hand at a chalk art square and other creative adventures at the Family Art Carnival. Among the many great features, they can fish for fun at Nature of Art’s eco-friendly Catch of the Day activity, creating a fish from recycled wetsuit fabric embellished with buttons, fabric and other scraps.

Looking for more beachin’ art? Adding to the mix of new art offerings will be featured artist Grace Swanson’s gorgeous “Gourds by Grace” created from gourds grown in Fallbrook. Gerry Kirk will once again bring his unique, award-winning sand sculpture talents to ArtSplash. Visitors can check out the diverse juried fine art for sale, admire edgy graffiti painting presented by featured gallery, acclaimed Alexander Salazar Fine Art Gallery of San Diego, and bid on fantastic, one-of-a-kind clocks created from old vinyl records. Sweet!

Speaking of sweet, don’t miss presented by Ro Zinniger of Ro Z’s Sweet Art Studio. Professional and amateur cake decorators can register at rozsweetartstudio.com/SEPT--25-CAKE-SHOW.html.

Zinniger, who will purvey her scrumptious cake pops, says edible art will be a fun feature of ArtSplash. She notes, “New this year is a cake demonstration booth, where professional cake artists from the Creative Confection Club of North San Diego will share décor tips, tricks and techniques.” People also can bid on silent auction items provided by dessert specialists.

In addition to great food purveyed by vendors throughout the event, Taste at ArtSplash on Saturday from 2-5 pm will offer delectables from area eateries at $20 per ticket.

A Fall Classic

ArtSplash Chair Joni Miringoff states, “Starting in the early 2000s, ArtSplash instantly became Carlsbad’s fall classic. We thank our major underwriter, the City of Carlsbad, for its current and past support. The City , our other valued sponsors, artists, volunteers and of course the thousands of visitors  have made this festival a genuine community celebration for arts education, with proceeds benefitting arts and music education programs in North County schools.”

She reports, “Each year, we take it up a notch and offer new activities while maintaining our palette of ArtSplash favorites. We’re still working on a few surprises for this ninth annual event,” she confides, advising people to frequent the website, become a friend on Facebook, follow the event on Twitter, then plan to don shorts and flip flops, apply sunscreen and enjoy a spin-full of fun at this free, family-friendly event.

Miringoff promises, “It’s going to be a record year!”

To obtain details on features and activities, people are advised to visit the website at CarlsbadArtSplash.org, where they can also obtain updates at Facebook and Twitter. 

ArtSplash takes place at Armada Drive, between Cannon and Palomar Airport Roads. There is free Parking and admission as well as free access to most activities.

Proceeds benefit arts and music programs in North County schools.