40 DAYS FOR 40 YEARS

32 years later and we’re still kicking up our cow-heels on Pecan Street!

The Pecan Street Association:  

CALL FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

In Expanding the Historical Archives of

THE PECAN STREET FESTIVAL  

In line with our 40^th Anniversary Spring Festival!

40 DAYS FOR 40 YEARS

This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the Bi-Annual Pecan Street Festival. The Spring Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday, May 6^th and 7^th, 2017.

The Pecan Street Association (PSA), the non-profit organization behind the Festival, gives back to our community by investing in historical preservation and providing funding to local artists and non-profits.

The PSA is now asking our community to “give back to us” by sharing your memories from 40 years of festivals!

Call:

We are appealing to the public at large and all past festival attendees, vendors, musicians, street performers, crew workers, charitable recipients, etc. to help us build our archive of the Pecan Street Festival.

Seeking:

• PHOTOS of/at the Pecan Street Festival (especially from the 1980s -1990s): of you, your friends/family, vendors, art/artists, performers, bands on stages, street scenes, etc.

• TESTIMONIALS: Brief stories of a specific Festival that you recall, or what the Festival means to you and/or to Austin.

• VIDEOS: Consider making a fun video of yourself telling us your story, showing art, photos, posters or anything you purchased or received from a Festival (perhaps even in appropriate “Keep Austin Weird” attire!) 

• Email submissions to: Debbie@pecanstreetfestival.org or share via #PecanStreetFest40

We want to credit YOU for helping us build this archive, so please include your full name and written permission to publicize your submission.

 Our Goal:

40 Days For 40 Years: For the 40 days leading up to our spring Festival, we will be sharing your submissions through our social media (#PecanStreetFest40), the press, our website and at the festival itself (at the Pecan Street Festival booth).

For the PSA, the Festival has always been about creating and maintaining an event that reflects the unique character of our city and the people who make Austin Austin (that’s YOU!).

So dig out those photos, artifacts and memories, and help us celebrate 40 years of an Austin ORIGINAL – The Pecan Street Festival.

Some sample submissions: 

Unknown street artist, Fall, 1996 – from Meghan Browne

1974, E. Sixth St.: 3 years before the first Pecan Street Festival, from Henry Williams. Currently researching identity of some of the folks. We do know that artist Jim Franklin is 5th from right.

“My mother, Anne Flanagan, took this great photo of my brothers Paddy, Joe, and me -with Doodlebug the Clown- during the fall Pecan Street Fest in 1996.” The family moved away, but Meghan notes that memories like Pecan Street Festival are part of the reason the siblings returned home in adulthood. “Viva Austin!” – Meghan Browne

“Back in 1987, with the immense riches from my $10k salary as an editorial assistant at the old 3rd Coast magazine, my friend Diane Bolling (now Wedig), and I came downtown on a beautiful Saturday for the festival. My big splurge from that happy afternoon was a numbered, signed copy (67/750) of the poster called ‘Big Slices’ by Jerry Seagle. It still hangs, framed, in my home, a tribute to a carefree, casual-festival time in Austin….days of Aquafest, the Spam Festival, and other unassuming, unexpected Austin revelry.” – Laura Cottam Sajbel