On a bustling overcast Saturday, amidst the commotion of the Badgers’ home football game against Maryland, an equally exciting event was happening on the East side of Madison: the annual Willy Street Fair.
While the Badgers’ game against Maryland may have been a disappointment, Willy Street’s sprawling three-block event was anything but.
With 120 booths covering everything from food to handcrafted goods and four music stages featuring tributes, local bands and karaoke, there was no lack of excitement to be had during the fair’s two-day run from Sept. 20-21.
Bringing the neighborhood together
Upon wandering into the fair from one of its six conventional entrances, the first thing to wash over was the sheer density of the crowd. Cheers of laughter and murmurs of reunion were accompanied by the smell of freshly made food. Of the 120 booths, nearly 30 were dedicated to food, with everything from hot dogs to Afghani pilaf and Uyghur lamb kebabs.
The real star of the show, however, were the over 70 stands selling hand-crafted goods from across the Midwest.
K.C. Phillips, creator of the surrealist graphic brand Doomsday LLC, told The Daily Cardinal they traveled from Chicago for the event, calling the Willy Street Fair “the only real market that I commit to every year.”
Other artists were equally drawn to the event. Kyle White, the creative behind Lakehouse Art, who sells prints and bound books inspired by Wisconsin’s Northwoods, was drawn to Willy Street by family who lives in the area.
“I love being in the Madison market and meeting lots of interesting people that you don’t get to see in rural Illinois,” White said. “I just love the vibe of Willy Street.”
Guests who attended the fair talked about the unique atmosphere of Willy Street and the opportunity the fair gave them to reconnect with friends.
Elizabeth Hooper-Lane, a professor of Design Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said one of the reasons she keeps coming back to the fair was to “meet up with friends” she and her husband don’t get to see very often.
“The community, the camaraderie, music,” Hooper-Lane said. “It’s part of that neighborhood feel of this city.”
Breaking free from the bustling streets gave way to the cacophonous sound of four concert stages.
Covering everything from country music to EDM, the stages proved to be a diverse and popular attraction at the fair. During a rendition of “Purple Rain” by Prince tribute band Purple Veins, hundreds of attendees swayed along to the beat while clouds opened up above the crowd.
With clear skies ringing in the second day of festivities, high spirits and a mass of people greeted a procession of paraders featuring everything from dance groups to a Willy Wonka-esque bubble car.
Most notable among the groups in attendance was Madison 350, a non-profit environmental advocacy group that will be holding a rally for climate justice on Sept 28. Between dancing figures dressed as Lady Liberty and elaborate wildlife costumes proclaiming that “all beings want to keep staying alive,” the group wheeled around a giant globe which they dubbed “The Chariot of Great Turning.”
According to Madison 350’s website, the chariot refers to the “ongoing and essential global shift from an Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization that prioritizes justice, ecological balance and community well-being.”
Starting in 1977, the fair started as a way to revitalize a declining Willy Street, bringing together local artists and artisans in a one-off community event. With overwhelming success, the fair ballooned into a yearly event, eventually funding the creation of Common Wealth Development, a non-profit community organization.
The parade was a perfect encapsulation of the Willy Street Fair’s ethos, highlighting the numerous cultural, artistic and just plain fun attractions that found their way to the event. Bringing the neighborhood — and Madison — together in a way that can only happen once a year.
