On Saturday, May 18, 2019 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the annual Kaleidoscope Fest will take over downtown Waxhaw with Food, Music, and Art. Lisa Hoffman, Events Manager for the Town of Waxhaw, shares more details about the change. “Kaleidoscope Fest is changing to a one-day Food, Music and Art Festival. Waxhaw is quickly becoming a hub for foodies, artists and musicians and Waxhaw will showcase all of these at Kaleidoscope Fest 2019. It is still the goal of the festival to promote Waxhaw’s culture and all things art in Waxhaw from fine arts and crafts to the performing arts. However, our goal this year is to also showcase the culinary arts by adding the Taste of Waxhaw venue featuring food bites from Waxhaw area restaurants. To allow for the restaurant participation, without being too burdensome on their staffing, we decided to move to a one day event.”
“We are aiming to create an awesome “artsy and fun” vibe in downtown Waxhaw that day. Picture visual artists painting, throwing pottery, wood carving, blacksmithing and blowing glass along the streets. Then picture performing artists juggling in the streets, performing magicians, caricature artists, stilt walkers and more. Acoustic performers will be positioned throughout the festival under the Oak Tree bandstand on E. N. Main, in Art Alley on W. N. Main, in the Beer Garden in the Waxhaw Water Tower Community Corner, in the Wine Cellar inside the Waxhaw Woman’s Club and along Highway 75. This is all paired with great tastes of food from our area restaurants. Our aim is to create the coolest artsy, foodie vibe downtown that we can!”
“The Taste of Waxhaw will feature over 20 Waxhaw restaurants showcasing 3-4 menu items in bite-size portions to event attendees. Think mini Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, Rueben rolls, Mexican corn with cheese/mayo/tajin seasoning, tacos, pimento grilled cheese and tomato soup, chicken skewers, pulled pork, mini burgers and chicken sliders, truffle mac and cheese, cupcakes, cheesecake, stuffed croissants, strawberry rhubarb cruffins and so much more! There will also be a beer garden at the Water Tower Community Corner and a wine cellar inside the Waxhaw Woman’s Club. KFest tokens will be used to purchase food and beverage items throughout the festival. Event attendees will purchase tokens from token booths throughout the event. Our Family-Size Token Bag is $50 for 45 tokens. Our Large Token Bag is $20 for 15 tokens. And our Small Token Bag is $10 for 7 tokens. Most food items cost between 2-4 tokens for each menu item. Tokens can be purchased by cash or credit card. The Waxhaw-Weddington Rotary Club, The Waxhaw Lions Club and South Charlotte Dog Rescue will have non-alcoholic beverage booths at the event.”
“We have over 60 artists and crafters selling their wares on the street, and inside the Duncan McDonald House on North McDonald Street. The Youth Art Kaleidoscope Fest will have over 300 pieces of artwork on display from area elementary, middle and high schools, as well as the Junior Art League of Waxhaw. They will be on display inside the Created in the Carolinas located in the Nivens Price building located at 216 W North Main Street.”
Make sure to plan ahead for parking. Last year’s turnout of over 5,000 people means that parking close to downtown can be hard to find. “Public parking locations include: Grass lot corner of Blythe Mill Road and Highway 16; Grass lot in front of new apartments on Highway 16; Waxhaw Elementary School; and street parking is available where permitted. A trolley will drive between each of these lots for rider pickup and drop at two downtown locations – heading north stop: corner of Highway 16/75 at stoplight and heading south stop: corner of McDonald Street/Highway 16. A map showing parking and trolley stops will be available online in the near future at www.waxhaw.com/KFest “
And just a reminder that you should grab the kids and grandparents before coming down but leave the four legged family members home. “We love animals, and have fur babies of our own, but festivals are no place for them. By town ordinance, animals are prohibited at town-sponsored events except as part of an authorized exhibit. (Reference: Part II: Code of Ordinances, Chapter 10-Animals, Article II-Domestic Animals, Sec. 10-38-Prohibition of animals at town-sponsored events)”
More details can be found at www.waxhaw.com/KFest or www.waxhaw.com/TasteofWaxhaw.
