SIOUX CITY — What a difference a year and a little sunshine can make. During 2023's Alley Art Festival, intermittent showers kept some possible attendees and patrons away. The sixth annual event, which was scheduled to run from 11 a.
m. to 11 p.m.
Saturday, had no such troubles. Around 2 p.m.
, well over 100 people were following the concourse between Fourth and Sixth streets and Nebraska and Pierce streets to view more than two-dozen fresh murals, grab a bite from a food truck, browse 30-plus vendor spaces and let their little ones run wild in the Kid's Zone which offered maraca making, sidewalk chalk, tie-dyeing and a "wall for all." "How beautiful everything is," one festivalgoer said as she was winding down her time. An Alley Art official at the entry way on Fourth Street estimated 300 people just during his shift.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack Organized by Vangarde Arts, this year's Alley Art featured the work of local artists such as Paul Chelstad as well as artists from Omaha and Waterloo. The murals played on video games, folkloric tales and psychedelic themes. Since 2019, Sioux City artist and Alley Art organizer Jessica "Brutal Doodles" Hammond estimates more than 140 murals have been created for the event.
The eclecticism didn't stop at the mural lineup. It extended to those who showed up as well. Some brought their entire family (in one case a child was seen sporting a ghost face tattoo).
Other folks c.