My tardiness is shameful but here I am posting about Artisphere, a festival that we attended back on May 12. Since Greenville hosts this event annually, I feel the information here is still relevant.

When McB and I went downtown for Artisphere we were looking forward to enjoying a nice walk while taking in some interesting pieces from a variety of vendors. That’s exactly what we got.

There were at least 100 different vendors selling everything from large, vibrant landscape photography to textiles and furniture. As with most art festivals, some items were within our budget and others were not. This time around it seems like the more I loved something, the more 0’s you’d find on the price tag. While we didn’t make any purchases at the festival, there are a couple of artists including Lisa Norris and Kreg Yingst that really made an impression.

The event did feature live music and some activities for kids. The live music, or at least the performances that were occurring while we were there, was found on a side street in a small, congested tent close to the food vendors. This configuration wasn’t ideal because most of the space in the tent was taken up by people eating lunch.

The food vendors did offer a good opportunity to try some small plates from a lot of Greenville restaurants. Mimi’s Steakhouse of Japan offered the best bargain of the day and their food was quite tasty.

It was a nice (free) event with lots to see. I’m sure we’ll be back for next year’s event, May 10-12, 2013.

We also treated ourselves to a stop at Luna Rosa for gelato. The ordering system (pay first, pick your flavors later) was a bit confusing but other than that, the service was good. McB got a vanilla and sweet cream frappe. He enjoyed it but it was definitely much different from the thick milkshakes that he normally prefers.

I got three-berry Marsala gelato. The Marsala brought both a sweetness and an alcohol (winey?) flavor which went well with the sometimes tart berries. The gelato was very fresh and the texture was just right. By the end of the dish, the sweetness of the wine was becoming just a bit overpowering but it was a very inventive flavor and I’m glad I tried it.