Music rocked Sundance Square on Saturday as the Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival celebrated 30 years of bringing culture to downtown.
The festival brings in an estimated 420,000 people over the course of four days, said Claire Armstrong, media relations and social media manager for the festival.
While art dominated the weekend, the festival was also a stage for local and national musicians.
“The original hope that Main St. would someday become a multi-faceted festival that would transform downtown into an outdoor gallery and concert stage has not only come to life, but has exceeded what anyone thought was possible,” said Larry Anfin, chairman of the Festivals and Events Committee for Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives Inc.
The musical portion of the festival, known as “Music On Main,” had four stages a venue at Bass Hall.
On Saturday, Southern-rock band The Georgia Satellites’ music filled the air as the crowd enjoyed the mild spring temperatures.
“We aim for a diverse array of musical performers,” Armstrong said. “We actually get a lot of backlash in the community because people mainly want mainstream bands. But because we have so many different mediums of art, we want to do the same thing with our music.”
The genres featured throughout the weekend included country, jazz, R&B, Latin, blues and more.
This year, Music On Main featured a “Locals Only” stage, as well as a singer/songwriter performance tent, hosting artists from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Armstrong said national headliner musicians are booked through an entertainment production agent that has worked with the festival committee for years. The committee aims to have new national headliners each year.
Premier guitarist Robin Ford performed Friday evening. A five-time Grammy Award nominee, Ford has played with artists such as Bob Dylan and Brad Paisley.
“Watching Robin was one of the coolest shows I have seen here at the arts fest,” said Joan Edwards, an audience member and frequent festival attendee. “I think this year had the most variety of musicians than ever before. It was very impressive.”