Organizers are hoping the city’s downtown will be jam-packed with visitors Saturday for a major arts and entertainment festival and a new showcase of Connecticut craft beer.
The fifth annual Envisionfest will stretch from the morning to the early evening throughout downtown, and at night the first-ever Small State Great Beer event will take place on Constitution Plaza.
“I compare Envisionfest to the Taste of Hartford,” said Jackie Mandyck, managing director of the iQuilt partnership, which organizes the festival. “It’s coming in and having a little taste of Hartford, but a taste of Hartford’s cultural scene. I think that goes for suburban people and people who live in the city as well.”
The list of activities at Saturday’s Envisionfest is long and includes dozens of options ranging from yoga to hot air balloon rides to tours of the Wadsworth Atheneum. Events begin at 9 a.m. with food and live music all day.
The goal of iQuilt is to make downtown Hartford more walkable and link cultural assets like Bushnell Park, the Connecticut Science Center and the main branch of the Hartford Public Library. Mandyck said work is wrapping up on a grant-funded project to make Bushnell Park North more pedestrian friendly and the Travelers Cos. is nearing completion on a $25 million project to redesign a nearly 2-acre plaza on Main Street.
Mandyck said iQuilt is encouraging visitors to take the CTfastrak busway in and out of the city for the event.
Rory Gale is one of the owners of Hartford Prints!, the Pratt Street retailer that is organizing Small State Great Beer. The name of the festival comes from a popular selling pint glass at Gale’s store.
Gale said 33 Connecticut breweries are participating, along with a lineup of local musicians. The event runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“We see ourselves as the after-party to [Envisionfest]” Gale said. “People can come downtown at 10 in the morning and stay until 10 at night.”
Envisionfest and Small State Great Beer are both about showcasing the capital city, she said.
“It is just a great opportunity for iQuilt and for Hartford Prints! to team up to be that outlet for people to experience the center city — the capital city — in a really unique way to let them know that Hartford has a lot going on.,” Gale said.
For more information visit www.envisionfesthartford.com and www.smallstategreatbeer.com.
