danks street festival

The Danks Street Festival was on last Sunday and I went to have a look see. Vehicle access to Danks Street and part of Young Street was closed off for this event. I was greeted by rows of white tentage and hordes of people. Although this is the fourth year they've been running this festival, I'm only attending it for the first time this year. I was surprised by the turnout as I hadn't expected the event to be this big.



The first thing I did upon arrival at the event venue was to grab a cup of coffee! With a nice aromatic cup of coffee in hand, I went to explore each individual stall under the long row of white tentage. There was a section called 'Arty Pants' where kids could spend the afternoon doing arts and crafts and anything creative while the parents had some time to themselves. I think some of the stuff the kids do nowadays are really cool. I wonder why I wasn't as creative when I was small. Hmmm...

Most of the other stalls featured other up-and-coming designers and their work. There was this one who designs and makes hats that are just so unique they take my breath away. I couldn't afford any of the hats though.



At the end of a row of stalls were lots of food kiosks! I was famished by then and was dying to get something to eat, anything. This serious chef at work cooking a huge pan of spanish paella caught my eye and I joined the uber long queue, only to get a plate of paelle that looked much better than it tasted. It served to fill my empty stomach though so no complaints from me.



I saw these three tourists (Japanese I think) taking pictures with the chefs on stilts and thought they looked cute so I secretly took a picture of them on the side.



Besides the roving entertainers, gourmet food stalls, live music and bands, art galleries and designer booths, there was a grower's market and a designer's market. Here below, you see me snapping away inside a lighting shop inside the designer's market. I especially liked the mirror shaped like a giant flower with five petals, but again I was quite stumped by the price tags. In case you're wondering, I didn't get anything except for the coffee and some food.



I even found an extremely well-maintained vintage Mercedes convertible parked by the roadside that so totally matched my vintage outfit that I had to take a picture with it. I also saw a few of those vintage 1970s bicylces (think of it in pastel pink or cream colour with a straw basket in front full of fresh flowers) and was quite tempted to buy one for myself. I'm sure I will then be so motivated to cycle to everywhere I go!



I had a really fun day. If I'm still here in Sydney next year, I'm definitely attending this festival again!