Pretending to be Saints performs to the crowd on the first day of the 2024 Ambler Arts and Music Festival in downtown Ambler on Friday, June 14, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Wahl Kunzier/Ambler Main Street)
Ambler – The 2024 Ambler Arts and Music Festival is off to a great start, with a severe storm on Friday briefly delaying the start of the festivities.
Ambler Avenue Manager Elizabeth Wahl Kunzier recalled that the installation process was going smoothly when the sky darkened, the wind picked up, and eventually it started to rain.
“Everything was perfect. Everything was set up and ready to go until 6pm when the sky suddenly opened and the water came pouring down, it was crazy,” she told MediaNews Group.
She noted that as event organizers delayed the opening of the two-day festival, downtown businesses and vendors prepared tents and attendees sought shelter.
Music finally started around 7:45 p.m., and Wahl Kunzier said “Yellow Moon,” “Disguised as a Saint” and “Triple Rail Turn” were able to perform Friday. When she returned on Saturday morning, as vendors were preparing their tents, she observed a completely different experience than on Friday.
“Saturday was great, everything… went really smoothly this time,” she said, adding, “It was a beautiful day.” It wasn’t wet and it didn’t rain.
The 13th annual event, hosted by the Borough of Ambler, Main Street Ambler and the Rotary Club of Ambler, has multiple components showcasing art, food and music in downtown Ambler.
Attendees strolled along Butler Avenue, perusing vendor tables and visiting local businesses. Some 86 artisan vendors sell many types of crafts, jewelry and photography. There are also numerous food trucks and stalls on site.
The festival also features two beer gardens, hosted by the Ambler Rotary Club. Volunteers sold about 67 kegs of beer, Wahl Kunzier said, adding that the beer the group sold was kegs produced by the Well Crafted Beer Company. Other local beverage partners include Forest and Main Brewing Company, Ambler location of Stone & Key Cellars and Gypsy Blu.
Saturday’s music line-up includes Two Rocks Rye, Mostly Harmless Band, Ndichu, Pixie Twist, Variable Elements, The Verdict Reggae Soca Band and The Alter Ego Experience.
The main thoroughfare in downtown Ambler turned into a sea of people on Saturday, with people turning out in droves. Wahl Kunzier observed that the crowd was so large, “you couldn’t see Butler Avenue.” She noted that attendance was similar on Friday and Saturday, with an estimated 25,000 people visiting the festival.
About two dozen volunteers help throughout the event, which has become a long-standing tradition that has grown in popularity over the past decade.
“I think it’s amazing to see so many people I don’t know. So it’s not just a neighborhood party anymore. It’s a party everywhere,” she said. “I saw people in high school. It was crazy and it made me happy.
“It makes me happy to see the community come out and really come together and everyone hang out together,” she continued. “I always say ‘Hello, Amber,’ and I should probably say ‘Hello, Amber, Whitpain, Blue Bell’ … because people from all over the world are there.”
