April 17th, 2012 
Photo Credit: Panoramio
Austin’s Sixth Street will once again be filled with artisans from around the country at the bi-annual Pecan Street Festival, May 5 and 6.
This festival includes food, music and shopping, all while benefiting local non-profits. The artisans set up tables and sell their merchandise. It is the largest art festival in Central Texas, “attracting more than 300,000 people per event.”
Organized by the Pecan Street Merchants Association, a group of volunteer business owners dedicated to the friendship between Sixth Street and the Austin community, the festival provides a free arts and crafts event for the whole family. One of the best parts about the festival is that while guests shop, some proceeds go to local non-profit organizations, selected by the Association. Some of the fall festival’s recipients included Austin Pets Alive! and the City of Austin.
Photo Credit: George Hsu/ OldPecanStreetFestival.com
The spring festival’s music lineup is an eclectic mix of different artists, and it includes local celebrity Nakia, who appeared on last season’s The Voice.
Besides music across three stages, the festival will also have three special exhibits throughout the weekend. There will be Doc Seaton’s Magic Side Show, The LEGO Experience Tour, and The Wahl Face the Day Tour. Each one is open to the public and is sure to have fun for all ages.
Here’s an interesting story about how the festival got its namesake. According to the festival’s Web site, when Edwin Waller first laid out the street plans for the city, he named the north to south streets after Texas rivers. While Waller, Austin’s first mayor, recommended numbers for the east to west streets, they were named after trees instead. Later on, numbers replaced the tree-named streets and Pecan Street became today’s Sixth Street. The Pecan Street Spring and Fall Festivals honor the original name of the street.
To get a glimpse inside the festival, please read fellow Ask Miss A contributor Rachel Victoria Chandler’s recap of September’s festival.
WHEN:
Saturday, May 5: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday, May 6: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
WHERE:
Sixth Street District
Austin, TX
TICKETS: Free!
