LOGAN — It’s almost time once again for Main Street in Logan to become one long silvery corridor, lined on both sides with those metallic, zeppelin-like campers known as Airstreams.
Thursday will be the opening day of Wake Up Downtown Logan, the local installment of Urban Air’s traveling Wake Up Downtown event. From May 2-4, as described on the event’s website, (wakeupdowntown.com), “The City of Logan will close the streets to all motorized traffic. Our Airstreams will line the historic downtown, forming a quiet and safe pedestrian mall.”
The “Airstream-only” event, which draws attendees from all around the country, promises its participants a menu of live music and consultation with Airstream experts, as well as a selection of the area’s tourist attractions including the Washboard Factory, moonshine distilleries, breweries, wineries, museums, restaurants, and the natural beauty of the Hocking Hills with its many salubrious outdoor activities.
According to the event site, 101 units will be booked to camp on Main Street, with registration closed after that number is reached, and later applicants put on an overflow list to be notified if a spot opens up. Typically there are two to three people for every Airstream in attendance.
In addition to providing a good time for all those visitors, the event aims to bring local people downtown to check out the Airstreams and their owners, as well as to benefit the community that’s hosting it.
In Logan, there will be a “Pimp Your Blimp” trailer decorating contest and auction, with proceeds to benefit downtown development and the Smith Chapel Food Pantry. Urban Air announces a theme for the contest before the event, to give people time to think up clever bling to adorn their bulbous rides.
The event will also provide a showcase for art by local students, in the form of the Urban Air Art Fair. Fifth- and sixth-grade art students at Logan-Hocking Middle School will have their artworks displayed in storefront windows downtown from April 25–May. Businesses displaying artworks will include SIBS, Saving Hardware, GTGB (Gifts that Give Back), Maya Burrito, Homegrown on Main, and Vintage en Vogue.
The public can vote for their favorites, either in person inside the business, or with the QR code posted on the window. The top vote-getter will be awarded the People’s Choice Award. A panel of professional artists will judge the top entries and award prizes for first, second, and third place winners, with winners to be announced at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Worthington Park gazebo.
This year’s theme for both “Pimp Your Blimp” and the art fair, according to organizer Kirk MacKellar of Urban Air, will be “in our element.”
MacKellar said he came up with the idea of the student art fair because “I thought it would be a cool way of getting kids involved, and getting them to bring their parents downtown. ... It’s very gratifying to see a little kid pulling their parents in the streets going, ‘Wow, my stuff’s right here!’ So it’s worked out really well.”
McKellar said the live music on Saturday this year will include Audie Wykle from 2–3 p.m., Riff Street from 3-5 p.m., and Rick Miller from 5–6 p.m., as well as the folks playing around campfires in the evenings. One new feature will be street performers from the Cincinnati Circus, who will stroll the street Friday and Saturday afternoon.
For those thinking of attending, the event website features a useful list of FAQs, ranging from “Are dogs welcome?” (Answer — “Of course.”) to “Can we run our air conditioner?” (Answer — “No… You will trip the circuit breaker leaving your neighbors, and you, in the dark.”)
The Airstreams will begin parking on Main Street at 9 a.m. Thursday. They will meet at the staging area at the Hocking County Fairgrounds and be released in groups to drive to the downtown area, where professional trailer wranglers will help them get their campers into place.
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