Inman Park Festival

Inman Park is a small neighborhood very near downtown Atlanta (or is it actually part of downtown?).  Over the years, it has gone through periods of popularity, decline, and a rebirth which is celebrated through the Inman Park Festival.  This year, it was held from April 29th to May 1st.  With not much to do that weekend, we poor Pinoy expats and a few ATL visitors trooped to Inman Park to check out its friendly neighborhood festival.

Finding a parking spot was just terrible.  It didn't help that we started out late (blame a minor cutover issue that suddenly cropped up!), but we parked more than a mile away from the festival grounds.  We also missed the parade!  Walking through the neighborhood was a treat though.  You could tell it was a good neighborhood; majority of the houses were well-cared for, and actually quite beautiful.

Bungalow style house on Lake Dr

Victorian house (I think)

A number were Victorian style houses, some but some were a little bit more eclectic than others:

Purple!

Did you know that there was a period when many of its houses were neglected and the community was far from genteel?  The festival is the residents' way of celebrating the restoration of the community and its homes.

I must have been confused that day because I was expecting to see carousels, cotton candy, and a freak show.  I thought I was going to a fair!  The festival actually had a number of events:  a parade (which we missed), local band performances, dance performances, and even a foot race.

The festival also had a very big market that showcased  handcrafted pieces from artists:

There were also some flea market stalls with vintage stuff:

And in one of these stalls I found a 'sungkaan'!  This Pinoy toy made it to the A!

Of course, Southern cuisine was strong and present!

fried everything

butterfly fries with cheese and bacon, aka 'heart attack waiting to happen'

fudge!

There were a lot of people, and everyone seemed to be having a good time, often with a beer or margarita in tow.  Not a bad idea with the temperature in the 80s that day.

Oh, and the Inman Festival also had an event called 'Tour of Homes' where you get to visit featured houses in Inman Park.  The cheapskates that we are, we opted to skip this.  Tickets were $20 apiece.

Kudos to the organizers.  I'm already looking forward to the next festival!