Downtown’s main corridor along Laura Street had a familiar vibe by early afternoon Wednesday.
Food trucks were serving the hungry. Creators were pitching the curious. Extra officers kept control of busy intersections.
Further north heading toward Hemming Park, artists and vendors had set up their booths and products — a familiar scene on the first Wednesday of each month, albeit hours earlier than normal.
The day had a One Spark feel. It had an Art Walk feel.
The two merged this year for Spark Walk, a combination of the annual crowdfunding festival and the monthly evening excursion that typically brings 10,000-15,000 people Downtown.
The latest rendition of One Spark brought the most dramatic changes yet, a scaling back to one day for public consumption of all the sights, sounds and tastes festivalgoers of years past enjoyed over as many as six days.
“I like this,” said Jim Lewis. “Last year seemed to be too crowded … it was getting out of hand.”
Lewis and his wife, Jackie, are retired and visited the festival to see what creators in the hydroponics fields were offering. The effort paid off.
One local group, Gyo Greens, agreed to speak at Lewis’ gardening club and would also offer tours of its facility.
“I never envisioned it, but they’re right here in Jacksonville,” he said.
Lewis said the laid-back atmosphere of the day was nice, almost as much as the weather.
Hours later, though, the streets filled.
By 6 p.m., Laura Street was filled with thousands of people moving to and fro.
At the Stand Perfect booth just away from the constant flow, Dannie Nickerson watched as her 6-year-old daughter, Kymberly Sykes, took hack after hack at whiffle balls on a tee.
“I didn’t realize it was today,” said Nickerson of the One Spark festivities.
She’d been the past couple of years and enjoyed herself, but found out somewhat last minute Wednesday while at the barber shop. After getting her daughter and nephews, the group headed Downtown to see what this year was all about.
“It’s more concentrated and laid-back,” she said. “I’m loving the atmosphere.”
In a couple of years, she hopes to be a creator once she finishes school and starts her catering company.
Suddenly, one of the whiffle balls launches from the tee.
“I did it!” the young girl exclaims.
Not far away, a past creator said he isn’t sure if he liked all the changes.
“It’s a lot smaller,” said Rajesh Verma. “I wanted more creators.”
This year had 66 set up shop, a far cry from past years when more than 500 were spread through Downtown.
Verma said he did like how compact it was this year, but lamented how short the festival was this year and how it fell in the middle of the week.
“A lot of people just can’t get out on a weekday,” he said.
Creators mostly OK with changes
On the creator side, opinions of this year’s festival were largely positive, too.
One of the first booths people saw heading south on Laura Street was Bedder Covers, a disposable lining and cover for truck beds.
Michael and Sheila DelCharco were part of One Spark in 2015, a time they said was used for product validation. The feedback was positive, said Michael DelCharco, and the exposure helped their product land in six area stores.
This year, the two were able to sell the product at One Spark — one of the bigger welcomed changes.
“That’s huge,” he said.
As for the changes from year-over-year, DelCharco said comparisons are “apples to oranges” because of the format. People were showing up later, but the energy was still there, he said.
A little further south, Michelle McInnis, her husband, daughter and friends had again set up The Sweet Spot. They want to bring an entertainment option, possibly to Springfield, featuring music and sweets through an urban lounge.
It was one of the more festive booths with dance hits blaring from speakers and yellow T-shirt-clad helpers grooving to the beat in front.
Like others, McInnis said she liked the compactness this year. She thought One Spark iterations the past couple of years had strayed from its mission of creators. And the voting aspect that was gone this year was missed — it helped provide feedback and validation from the masses.
Selling products was big for The Sweet Spot, too. McInnis said she got maybe three hours of sleep the night before as she stayed up baking breads and cookies for the day. It was part of selling what they are trying to do.
She does wish it was longer, though. Maybe a couple days that didn’t fall in the middle of the week.
’Good vibe’ for Jacksonville
Jake Gordon said he understood the different opinions and expected the feedback.
But, the Downtown Vision Inc. executive director also understands the many audiences that events like Spark Walk has to cater to.
Downtown Vision this year joined One Spark in presenting the event, which Gordon said was focusing on quality over quantity as One Spark — a startup itself — reaffirms itself.
“It’s working,” he said, as hundreds of people passed him in the early evening.
As for the calls for a separate day, Gordon said Art Walk always has been successful on the first Wednesday of each month. Combining it with One Spark this year made sense for both parties.
The thousands who took part and the activity around him showed as much.
“I think it’s a good vibe,” he said, looking around. “It’s a wonderful example of Jacksonville.”
@writerchapman
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