The turnout of 40,000 crushed expectations (organizers estimated around 10,000) for opening day at Riverside Arts Market on Saturday, April 4. Situated beneath the Fuller Warren Bridge at Riverside Avenue, and open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. every Saturday, the market features locals artists, farmers, crafts people, musicians, performance artists, magicians - you get the idea.

After finding a parking space three blocks away (we parked at what one woman referred to as the “fire place,” which is to us normal folks otherwise known as the “fire station”), my 2-year-old and I made our way up the Riverwalk, petting every single dog along the way. Three hours later (I kid), we reached the market, which teemed with citizenry.

Seriously, the place was effing packed.

My kid was a little freaked out by escape artist Michael Patrick, whose face turned a terrifying shade of scarlet as he dangled precariously from a pyramid of steel pipes and tried to wriggle out of a straight jacket wrapped in chains. I must admit, I thought this graying Houdini was gonna have an aneurysm. I assume he survived. We moved on to the face-painting booth where my daughter was made to resemble a blueish butterfly. Four dogs later, half of one wing was licked clean off.

Were it not for nap time, we could have spent the entire day at the market. The usual players were on hand, but a lot of artists and vendors not normally seen at local art shows were also hawking their wares. The weather was perfect, the people were energized. If interest remains at this level, the Riverside Arts Market could prove to be the coolest thing to happen to Jacksonville … ever.

There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the Riverside Arts Market — a weekly arts, crafts, food and music event set to kick-off on April 4th under the Fuller Warren Bridge — and now it seems there’s cause for more. The busiest man in Jacksonville, Tony Allegretti, mastermind behind downtown Jacksonville’s Art Walk and part-owner of the immensely successful downtown eatery Burrito Gallery, has been hired to be the Arts Market’s first director. Of the opportunity, Allegretti says:

Jacksonville has such a deep pool of diverse creative talent and a robust community of folks with an affinity for local art, music, and food. To bring all of this together with a free event will be an amazing weekly celebration of our cultural DNA. And it’s on our mighty river. I am so excited.

For more info on what the Market will have in store each Saturday, visit riversideartsmarket.com.