Press Release
Variety of activities pique the interest of festival goers
May 7, 2006
As race fans gathered to cheer on bicyclists vying for the top spot in the Sunny King Criterium bicycle race, many participants in Saturday's Noble Street Festival in Anniston enjoyed other festival events. "We actually came for the food first and the race second," said Kipp Katterheinrich as she watched the women's bike race. "We're having a good time."
The festival offered a variety of activities, including the Red Diamond Restaurant Tour, the Pedaling Art Show, the Kid's Zone and the Noble Street Music Festival.
Two-year-old Aiden Gamble had a great time drawing a bright yellow sun with his mother's aid in the Kid's Zone in AmSouth Bank's 10th Street parking lot.
"I like (the festival). It's neat. It's better than I expected it to be," said Bethany Gamble as she assisted Aiden, who was using a pastel crayon. "I knew there was going to be a lot of restaurants and I could buy food for tickets - so I was down."
The children also had the chance to create art from clay and decorate their work using pastel crayons.
The Pedaling Art Show was a new addition to this year's festival, with local artists on hand to display and sell their work.
Margaret McNaron, who has a knack for painting fish in diverse settings, sold posters based on the Sunny King Criterium bike race.
The poster shows a fish on a bicycle. Swirls of vibrant blue colors embellish the background along with the stamp, "Anniston Criterium."
"I sold more of these than anything else," McNaron said, a pair of fishbone-shaped earrings dangling from her earlobes. "It's a combination of a painting and cut paper."
"(The art show) went well," McNaron added. "This was the first time they had art booths at the races. We had many people and a lot of traffic. I think it went well."
Mike Poe, volunteer director of today's Cheaha Challenge and the Noble Street Festival, said many people praised the art show and hope to see it repeated next year.
"I've heard a lot about the art," Poe said. "And the live music at the other end of the festival was a good way to bookend the festival."