The 9th annual Art on the Prairie event will be taking over downtown Perry this weekend, and it’s expected to be the biggest one yet.

Organizer Jenny Eklund says this year they’ll be hosting 70 artists, 30 musicians, 12 poets, and four authors for the two-day event. The artisans will also be featured in 10 different buildings, including three brand new locations, with La Poste and Hotel Pattee serving as the unofficial hubs. The festivities will run Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Attendees can pick up a brochure, which includes a map of the locations and exhibitors, at any one of the ten buildings participating in the event.

Eklund says it’s amazing to see the impact Art on the Prairie has had on the culture of Perry in the last nine years, which she says is evident to anyone who has walked around 2nd Street recently. “I feel this incredible energy in downtown Perry. But not only in downtown Perry, I feel it in our whole community, of new businesses and new things happening. It is fun when you walk out of your shop and you hear saws and hammers going, and the excitement of our town! And I’m going to go to my grave saying that art revitalizes a small community, and this is a great example of it.”

In addition to the normal festivities, at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the City will be revealing the fourth and final Streetscape Sculpture along Willis Avenue, titled “Furrowed Fields.” There will be a presentation and ribbon cutting for the sculpture, which will cause Willis to be closed until around 7 that night, and Raccoon Valley Radio’s Chris Cohea will serve as emcee. The Big Red Radio will also be on hand for Saturday of Art on the Prairie, broadcasting live from 9 a.m. – noon, providing public address services, and playing music.

To learn more, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.