The Cooper Young Fest

Two weeks ago, I headed out to the annual Cooper Young Festival. I met one of the gals from work there, and we essentially just walked around, looking at the goods, listening to the music, and just enjoying a simply gorgeous Saturday afternoon outside. (It was the first great fall day. Granted, to me, a fall day means mid-80s. People around here seem to want it to be in the 70s before they'll call it fall. I'd be fine with that too, but low/mid-80s is awfully nice too.)

The Cooper Young area is an area of town--in Midtown--where Cooper and Young streets intersect. It reminds me a lot of the lower Greenville area in Dallas: cool bars, eclectic restaurants, and an accepting atmosphere such that everyone's at home here.

Once a year the area hosts a festival, and it's a huge one for Memphis. The main parts are on Cooper Street, which is, of course, closed down for blocks.

Here's a view down Cooper---first looking north, then south.



Over a hundred vendors are set up, selling art and other wares. I bought a hand-made keychain, made from glass in the lampwork style. It is, naturally, maroon, and pieces of white glass are incorporated into it. It's become the keychain for my work keys. (The one I bought last summer in Hawaii broke when I dropped it one too many times.)

Live music was going on all day of all different sorts. I must say, though, my favorite band wasn't one that was advertised. Instead, it was a band that had simply set up in someone's front yard! I guess they didn't score a paying gig with the actual festival, but they played anyway! Anyway, here's the band Karol and I listened to while we got a bite to eat at Celtic Crossing.



(Yes, it's an area of great businesses, but it's also very residential with lots of fabulous old homes. and thus, i suspect that's why the festival winds down by 7pm. It's enough the people in the neighborhood have to have their streets so full all day, they surely don't need loud bands at every turn late into the night.)



Memphis, of course, is very much about music. And these guys were having a blast on these drums in front of the Memphis Drum Shop, I'd love to learn how to play a drum--the kind you can hold between your knee or under your arm. That'd be cool.




And so, I got to experience Cooper Young Festival. It wasn't hard to figure out why this one is so well known and liked.