When Cherokee Street pulled the plug on its Cinco de Mayo festival last month, the news went off with a bang. The idea that the neighborhood’s biggest festival was no longer financially viable felt like a big blow.
But behind the scenes, organizers were already working on a different festival—one that they hope will represent a different direction for the South City neighborhood. Instead of events that bring in a big party crowd, they hope to get people engaging with local businesses.
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This summer, that means the debut of Common Thread: A Textile Festival. The one-day event on June 27 will feature both makers and sellers specializing in vintage, handmade, and custom clothing, along with tapestry art, knitting, quilting, crochet, and leather goods.
MO Variety, a grassroots circus led by aerialist Laura Lippert, will bring performers to add levity to the streets. And while the event will close with a fashion show, instead of models, it’ll be a “catwalk open mic” where attendees are invited to strut their stuff and show off the day’s purchases. Prizes will include Best Score, Best Accessory, and Best Overall Outfit. Says John Joern, director of events for the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District, “It’s very Cherokee, and I feel like folks down here have the nerve to get up there.”
Even so, he adds, the organizers are doing their part to get things started: “We’ve been talking to some of the vendors, and I think we’re also going to incorporate a bit of a curated thing too, and give the vendors a chance to curate their best outfit, put it on their model, and do the walk as well.”
Beyond the fact that the festival’s smaller footprint makes for fewer security concerns than a tequila-fueled street party, Joern is hopeful that the DIY spirit will be more in line with today’s Cherokee Street ethos—and better for the small business owners who populate its storefronts. He says the CID is drawing on the success of smaller festivals like December’s Print Bazaar and the Jazz Crawl held each November.
“Print Bazaar has grown massively in the last couple of years, and it’s really great for the businesses, because it kind of guarantees them traffic, and from a shopping experience, it’s excellent, because you have so much offered on the street with the vendors, plus the spaces that are open for holiday shopping,” he says. “So we picked from that model a little bit.”
Overall, Joern says organizers have been pleased by the response from the textile community, hitting their goal of 30 vendors earlier this week. “I honestly think that by the time we get to a couple weeks out, we’ll probably hit that point of like 40 to 50,” he says.
He adds, “We haven’t really hit the accelerator on marketing yet, but from the feedback I’m getting, people are super excited about it, and I’m hoping for a ton of buy-in, and more vendors, and more venues, and all the good stuff.” If it succeeds, he says, it will become an annual event.
The festival is free and runs from noon to 6 p.m. on July 27.
