The usual hustle and bustle of cars in downtown Burbank was missing this weekend, and instead throngs of avid art lovers filled the streets enjoying everything from intricate paintings to elaborate hand crafted jewelry for the Downtown Burbank Fine Arts Festival. Burbank holds the festival twice a year and it is an immensely popular event bringing hundreds of people out to litter the streets and take pleasure in a cornucopia of art and entertainment.

The streets of downtown Burbank were shut down for the festival and dozens of artists set up shop to display and sell the works of art they had created. There was art from all walks to appease any kind of art lover. All different types of media were featured in the art festival including painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians, crafters and many more.

A diverse amount of art was exhibited and the assorted creativity of the artists seemed to be a continual theme of the festival. The ingenuity of the artists included RV shaped bird houses, exquisite photography from striking locations, album covers incorporated into paintings, copper and bronze sculptures of island life and vibrantly colorful vases.

One of the more notable artists was Mark Rubin, who creates phenomenal figures and formations out of eucalyptus tree bark such as guitars and dragons. He discovered his talent after simply picking up some eucalyptus tree bark while walking his dogs.

‘It was purely by accident,’ said Rubin.

Another unusual art highlighted in the festival was the chalk drawings done on the pavement. The illustrations were created live as people walked about and were large scale creations of small photos.

For aspiring musicians, on-the-spot lessons were given on a wide array instruments. Musicians from local music schools came out to the event to give brief instruction on how to play guitar, drums, bass, violin and saxophone.

The festival appealed to all types of people and many of the people in attendance were pleased to see the showcase of art.

‘I think it’s a great thing, I love it. I’m really glad that Burbank has so many community events. The prices are great, the artists are very talented,’ said attendee Frances Obrien.

‘It’s great to see all the photographers and painters, I just met this woman who makes really cool hand painted area rugs,’ said artist and attendee Jacques Dupuy. ‘There are some really good artists here; I think it’s a great art fair.’
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