Vignette 284 > Mill Valley Fall Art Festival

In October 1963, after six years in Outdoor Art Club and Lytton Square venues, the annual Art Festival moved to Old Mill Park. Artists rented 125 panels to display their talents. Art works worth more than $125,000 were on display. Forty-one paintings and sculptures were selected for the juried section. Folk singers, dancers, barbershop quartets and jazz combos performed hourly in the amphitheater. The following organizations had booths: Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, dinner; Sweet Adelines, peanuts, fudge and popcorn; Explorers, cotton candy; Old Mill PTA, baked goods and tea; Mill Valley Library, books; Marin County Parents of Hearing Handicapped Children, dime pitch; Omicron Alpha of Beta Sigma Phi, hot dogs; BSA Troop 34, ice cream and cold drinks; Rotary Club, information; MV Jr. Chamber of Commerce, beer. There were wandering singers. San Francisco’s famous Guckenheimer Band performed. The annual fall event has grown in popularity and consistently attracts hundreds of attendees. The weather is usually, but not always, pleasant in mid-October.