Friendly chatter and laughter surrounded the Arts Terrace for the annual Festival on the Green.
On Saturday evening, families brought food and alcohol for picnics. Children danced to the music as their parents watched.
The free event included booths with artwork, jewelry and crafts. Some booths taught children how to play instruments and offered an upclose encounter with a snake.
ARTWORK
Kristine Freyer of Freyer Woodland Whimsy creates art by carving wood and painting with watercolors. Her work primarily focuses on animals and antiques.
“My parents liked antiques, so that’s kind of a way to keep that going,” she said.
Freyer had learned about artwork being presented at the festival last year when she came for the symphony. This year, she decided to host a booth.
“It was very nice to be able to set up in a beautiful place under the trees,” she said.
JEWELRY
For the fourth year, Noël Keith set up a booth for NK Designs.
The high school student at Wapahani High School started NK Designs when she was in fifth grade.
Her interest in making jewelry started after she got her ears pierced. After expressing that she wanted football earrings, her mother bought her supplies to start crafting.
The first pair she made was for her teacher. She then branched out to making jewelry for her family, friends and others.
Keith also sells her work at other local craft shows and donates a portion of her proceeds to charity.
CRAFTS
One booth, sponsored by Cornerstone Center for the Arts, gave children the opportunity to paint craft fireworks made out of forks.
“It kind of lifts your spirits a little bit to see all the little kids running around,” Roseanne Hughes, a Muncie resident, said.
ORCHESTRAS
The Youth Symphony Orchestra of East Central Indiana, a student ensemble sponsored by the university, performed in pairs of two or three at a booth.
To end the Festival on the Green, the Muncie Symphony Orchestra played summer-related pieces.
“The community really loves this event, and that is why we keep doing this,” said Alena McKenzie, executive director of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra.
The orchestra also hosted its picnic contest with a beach theme, accounting for many Hawaiian leis and T-shirts.
SUPER CONDUCTOR
Along with the picnic contest, the orchestra hosted its annual Super Conductor contest.
Three contestants from the community participated: Cheryl Crowder, events director for the Muncie Downtown Development Partnership; Steve Lindell, vice president and director of operations at Woof Boom Radio; and George Branam, a pathologist at the IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.
Festival attendees voted on the contestants by donating money. The contest raised $9,608 to help pay for free events for students to attend on campus.
Branam won the title of Super Conductor 2014 and helped the Muncie Symphony Orchestra perform George Frideric Handel’s “Water Music.”
“We want the symphony events to become the night out for students, for faculty, for staff, for anybody in Muncie or outside of Muncie,” McKenzie said.
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