My first official Starry Night! I have loved Starry Night Music & Arts Festival since before I even went to Purdue. My sister (shown far right in above image. My mom is in the middle.) is 4 years ahead of me in school and discovered it before I did. I went to visit her while I was still in high school and we attended Starry Night. I loved the warm atmosphere, string lights hanging over the street and all of the creativity involved with the event. What a perfect blend for me!
After attending for so many years as a Starry Night goer, I got the opportunity to be on the other side of the booth this year! And what an honor it was. I'm so grateful for the experience. Somewhere around 15,000 people in the community come out for the festival. My booth was almost constantly full and it was such a reward seeing their smiling faces peruse my Wild Souls! I made heartfelt connections with many of the people that came through my booth. It's exciting to be making connections within the Greater Lafayette area through my business!
Starry Night is held by a local campus church that is close to my heart. The people at Purdue Christian Campus House work hard all year long to plan, organize and execute a huge festival for thousands of people! It is their way of giving back to the community.
A tradition for me has always been to take a polaroid picture. There are people walking around the festival all night taking vintage photos for $2! My sister and I took the polaroid (shown left) in front of my booth to properly commemorate the wonderful night. We were trying to track them down all night with no luck! One of my friends made sure I got my polaroid. :)
We were right across the way from my husband's business as well, Sweet Revolution Bake Shop. We were waving at each other all night and he would come over to check on me! He said it made him happy seeing my booth busy the majority of the night. I've worked so hard and he has been a big help and had great ideas leading up to the event!
The coloring table was a big hit as well! Kids and adults a like were getting really involved. I love seeing what colorful creations people would come up with using my designs as a guide. It was consistently full the whole night and some people even had to go behind our booth and color while sitting on the sidewalk! The response was unexpected and awesome.
I couldn't have done any of this without the help of my parents, sister and her boyfriend, Ben. They helped me set up everything and keep me calm before and during the event of my year! I'm so happy for the love and support I have received from my community. This was a big deal! All of my friends finally got to see in person what I have been up to all these months. That is a reward in and of itself.
Until next year, Starry Night!