Every year at this time there is a huge Art Fair in Old Louisville. The St. James Art Fair. This is the largest public event of the year in Louisville outside of the Derby Festival and Thunder Over Louisville. The streets are closed between 3rd and 6th and Magnolia and Hill. This event started in 1957 as a small event for a few local artists and has been growing ever since. I used to live in this neighborhood and went every year in the 60's and 70's. The Art Fair draws vendors from all over the country. All kinds of art is on display and for sale, painting, photography, leather craft, handmade jewelry. There is also the usual fair food. Recently, I have been distracted by the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot that was always held on the same weekend.
This year the Fair and the Machine Gun Shoot are a week apart and I decided to go to the Art Fair yesterday, Saturday. Naturally, I was open carrying. I carried my stainless 1911 in a cross draw rig. It was very obvious. This is the center of the artsy liberal's world for this weekend. The weather was great and I walked around for about three hours without any problems. The Second District Police Station of Louisville Metro PD is located in Central Park, which is just across Magnolia St. from St. James Court and the park was filled with food vendors and tables and chairs. Thousands of people were there. I did notice a few "looks", but I suspect those people were mostly from out of state. I did expect at least a "contact" with LEO, but none was forthcoming. There were no screams of "Man with a Gun", no women stampeding or horses fainting. It was a complete "nonevent". I had planned to go back today, Sunday. It rained all day, so I decided to stay home and watch football instead. The results were about the same as yesterday's. Next weekend, I'll be at the Machine Gun Shoot.