Blue Dome Vs. Mayfest

For those of you that don't know, Blue Dome is a grassroots, art festival composed of nonconformist. Mayfest is equivalent to OKC's 'Festival of Arts'-full of beautiful work with giant price tags. Booth rates are expensive and the environment is wholly commercial. In lieu of this contradiction (art v. the man) a group of artist decided they were fed up with red tape and decided to organize their own festival (or so I hear). From this womb, the Blue Dome Festival was born. Located a few short blocks from Mayfest, BD but they're worlds apart. The atmosphere is different, the people are cheery and the crowd was beautifully diverse. I'm sure the traffic through Mayfest was much greater than BD but I wouldn't trade spots. It's all about relationships and connections. THE Blue Dome and its lovely crowd. Some of the artists/ musicians of the BD.They played and the belly dancers in the booth across provided a free show. Our booth was marked by pirates.

And, moving on to Mayfest, shall we? So much for first impressions. No, No, No! "A little negativity never hurt no one?" More finger shakin'. At least the enforcers were good sports. They smiled for the camera.

Ok, so I may have skewed this post a little just to emphasize my point? Oh the power of propaganda! If you want to see some of the art and the Mayfest crowd, check my Flikr.

Overall, BD felt local, involved, like a community. Mayfest was elbow to elbow. People seemed to hide out in their booths and it just seemed like an outdoor strip mall. Maybe I'm biased. Either way, I'm sold on the BD. Not just the festival but the entire district. It's budding with local business and smiling faces. Once I make the jump, don't be surprised if you don't spot me down around the Blue Dome.