Arts Festival Sidewalk Sale Closes Friday Evening After Strong Thunderstorm Causes Damage

The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts closed its Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition at 5 p.m. on Friday after a strong thunderstorm in State Colelge caused damage to artist booths and festival operations.

Scheduled entertainment for the evening continued as planned on Friday and the Sidewalk Sale was set to resume at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

“Due to the recent storms, several artists, as well as Festival operations, received damages and will need an opportunity to recover,” festival organizers wrote in a news release. “While it saddens us to close the sale, we feel it is necessary to make this challenging decision.”

Gusting winds, heavy rains and hail moved through Centre County on Friday afternoon, causing downed trees and power lines. More than 3,200 West Penn Power customers in the county were without power as of 5 p.m.

The bulk of those were in State College, where 2,700 – nearly a quarter of West Penn customers in the borough — were without power.

By 9:30 p.m., there were 880 outages in the county, with 315 of those in State College.

Friday evening’s entertainment schedule at the Arts Festival includes:

Triple A Blues Band – 5:30 PM – Allen Street Stage
Kristi Jean and Her Ne’er Do Wells – 6:30 PM – Festival Shell Stage
Eric Mintel Jazz Quartet – 7:00 PM – Sidney Friedman Park Stage
Scythian – 7:00 PM – State College Presbyterian Church *
Ted McCloskey & the Hi-Fi’s – 7:30 PM – Allen Street Stage
Happy Valley Improv – 8:00 PM – Blue Brick Theatre *
Friar’s Point Band – 9:00 PM – Festival Shell Stage
Cass and the Bailout Crew – 9:30 PM – Allen Street Stage
Steel City Calypso – 9:30 PM – Sidney Friedman Park
Happy Valley Improv – 10:00 PM – Blue Brick Theatre *

*Festival button required.

“We are looking forward to re-opening the Festival Sidewalk Sale & Exhibition tomorrow morning and encourage everyone to join us in supporting our amazing artists,” organizers wrote.

The Arts Festival continues Saturday and Sunday in State College and on the Penn State campus. Check out our festival guide and visit arts-festival.com for more info.