You could hear that familiar sound of a ball clanking against the metal spray paint can.  A wooden crate sat on the table with drips of neon dried on the sides.  His hand hovered, mulling over the colors, finally pulling a bright orange followed by an electric green.

“A beautiful flower, for a beautiful lady,” he said as he started to sweep the color over the glossy paper.  After laying the colors, he began swiping the bleeding hues revealing the white paper underneath.  The swipes in the paint mimicked petals of a lotus flower. Within seconds there was an image and he packaged it sweetly with blue painters tape to dry.

The Urban Street Art Festival is laid out upon the Banana Factory campus.  Once you were on the premises, everywhere you turned there was art – completed art, art in the making, and interactive art.  Described above was the Moon Painting exhibit.

Next to the Moon Painting exhibit was a graffiti artist , Max Meano, working on a huge mural that stretched across the back fence of the parking lot.  The most mesmerizing of the three graffiti screens was the image of a woman’s face, her eyes radiating from the image – and all you can see above the screen is blue skies.

There was also LVAC (Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations) with fantastic screen-print shirts.  It is really fun following their Instagram account (@thelvac) and seeing all the great designs they produce.  They were handing out pins, magnets, and cup cozies with many of their designs.

As you moseyed around the grounds at the Banana Factory you had to watch where you stepped as art was also being etched on the ground.  Colorful chalk masterpieces – some even 3D, covered the pavement.

If you were getting thirsty on this hot day, there was cold beer, wine, and frozen delights.  Any could be perfectly paired with a cupcake from the Trixie’s Treat truck.

After finishing your refreshment, you could take a stroll admiring the yarn bombs by the Knitter’s Edge.

Or if knitting did not tickle your fancy, skateboarders setup a course and performed tricks.

The Banana Factory further welcomed visitors inside to admire their studios.  One of the neatest exhibits inside was body painting.  An artist was painting a woman to blend into a brick wall.  It was mesmerizing to watch the artist work, going back and forth from painting to viewing her work from a screen afar to assure the body and the wall became one.

Another exhibit was glass blowing, which was responsible for the amazing lotus flower chair that welcomed guests to sit outside.

The Urban Street Festival was one of many events being celebrated on the Southside this day.  Another was National Record Store Day.  Play It Again Records, a block away from The Banana Factory, celebrated with a concert with Robert Sarazin Blake.  The band played in a nook elevated above the crowd. 

Needless to say, April 18th was a great day for art in Southside Bethlehem!