ABOVE: The concept of a mural on the sidewalk at Amber Lake Park in Fairmont which reads “KEEP OUR LAKES CLEAN” with water splash, fish, toad and floral visuals. The project will be completed during the first LakeFest, an event by the City of Fairmont and Imagine Martin, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 10. Photo by Vanessa Schultze

FAIRMONT– LakeFest, the city of Fairmont’s new festival which it’s debuting along with arts non-profit, Imagine Martin, will take place this Sunday at Amber Lake Park in Fairmont.

The festival was really born from an $8,000 source water protection grant the city received to use on public education regarding water quality. After that it partnered with Imagine Martin to have local artists paint various lake and water-themed murals around the community. While that all started last fall, it has led to LakeFest, where several artists will be creating live art installations.

Fairmont’s Source Water Resources Coordinator, Hannah Neusch, has done the bulk of the planning, along with Imagine Martin artist, Alexandra Hurney.

“As of now I believe we have at least four artists booked that will be doing the live painting,” Neusch said. “There will also be the opportunity for the public to help a little bit in putting the pieces together.”

At least one will be on or near the boat ramp at the park, as per the specifications of the grant. A few other pieces will be on the channel area and possibly on the sidewalks.

The four artists that will for sure be at LakeFest include Hurney, Danielle Moeller, Sydney Wren and Jeanie Kanten and there may be additional artists joining them.

The event starts at 10 a.m. and is scheduled to go until 4 p.m. with the artists working on and off throughout the whole event. While the live art installations are the heart of the event, there is much more to it.

“We have the Cup Truck coming, which is a fan favorite. We also have a new food vendor called Chasing Sunsets Drink Co. They do all different kinds of non-alcoholic beverages like dirty sodas, iced coffees and energy drink mixers. The drinks are layered and colored. I think it will be fun,” Neusch said.

The city of Fairmont street department is supplying a sand pile for use at the event and Neusch said there will also be some buckets and other sand toys.

“They can play around. The kids can be kids on the sand pile,” she said.

Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) is also part of the event and has a few different activities planned including a storybook walk at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

“It will keep kids active but engaged in the story,” Neusch said.

Books will be given away to the kids who take part in the storybook walk.

Region Nine, the city’s federal economic development district, will also be on site as the city is trying to get as many citizens as possible to fill out the community resilience plan survey.

“We’ll have physical copies and QR codes so people can also fill it out on their phone,” Neusch said.

Those who fill it out will be given a special LakeFest cup.

Neusch shared that the Martin County Historical Society will also have a booth at the event and will have a display of photos and artifacts specifically dealing with Amber Lake Park.

“That will be interesting because that’s where the hotel used to be and the Japanese gardens and all sorts of stuff and I don’t think people realize how much used to be down there,” Neusch said.

There are some other aspects of the events that Neusch and Hurney have long been working on planning for, but they’ve always kept their eye on the purpose of the event.

“The main attraction is the artists painting and basically everything else supports that,” Neusch said.

The hope is that the event can continue as a yearly festival at a different lake in Fairmont each year. Neusch has previously said she would love to see a group step up to take it over.

The timing of this year’s event unfortunately coincides with the annual Threshing Day at Heritage Acres in Fairmont. This planning wasn’t done on purpose and when it was discovered it was too late for either group to change the date of their event. However Neusch said planners of each event have been in contact and are supporting each other.

“I encourage anyone who’s going to Threshing Days, after they’re finished there, come see us at Lakefest and vice versa. There’s enough interest to go around and it’s a long time period from 10 to 4 so people should stop at both,” Neusch said.

More information on LakeFest can be found online at fairmont.org and on the city’s Facebook page.