Art in the open

“People stop walking to listen, and some people dance in a corner,” Incelli said. “The children hear the music and they want to play the congas. Everybody enjoys the beat and the rhythm.”

Food is available at the many restaurants, including several new ones like Third and Olive and Yogurtiers, Stewart said. Yogurtiers has self-serve yogurt machines and myriad toppings, like granola, peaches, berries and pineapple.

“All the kids are loving it,” Stewart said.

Another new place is Cupcakes and Co. on Magnolia, behind Ross.

“The festival is just a fun time to walk around and see new things, like the Downtown Burbank Streetscape Improvement,” Stewart said. “There are new benches, containers for plants and flowers, and the seating walls have new stone veneers added to the sides.”There are even new bicycle racks shaped like bicycles, she added.

What makes the arts festival gratifying is that five years after it began it is considered the largest in the San Fernando Valley by Ronda Mills of West Coast Artists, who secures the artists for the event, Faulk said.

“Ronda organizes many of the shows in the Valley, and she says that Downtown Burbank’s is one of the largest in the Los Angeles region, in terms of attendance, which is estimated at 30,000 and in terms of participating artists, which is just over 100,” Faulk said.