he time has finally come. After countless days of practice, the young woman walks onto the stage and looks into a large crowd. Bob Wolf is one of the watchers.  Bob loves seeing the newbies play. He’s often heard that Denton is the “next Austin” and he has little reason to doubt it. 

As the music starts, Bob, who sells hand-carved stone jewelry, leans back and looks over at Bill Graham in his booth of painted metal art. Bob and Bill smile at each other as a young man walks between them, hesitating, caught between their wares and the music. Bob sympathizes. Bill laughs. They are on sensory overload, too.

What else do you expect? This is the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival, the biggest event of the year, two and a half days of nonstop art, music, food and fun in historic Quakertown Park–all for free. “This is an event we are proud to produce and the rewards are numerous,” says festival founder Carol Short, executive director of the Denton Festival Foundation.

The festival is the happy merger of the old music-centric JazzFest and Spring Fling, which began in 1980 as an arts fund-raiser. Today, the Arts & Jazz Festival has grown into a major regional festival and one of the largest tourist attractions in North Texas, breaking attendance records yearly. In 2009, some 2,300 performers and over 175 artists will be on hand from April 24-26. The festival features every kind of music, from blues and jazz to rock and cross-cultural beats, as well as displays of fine art, handcrafted art and jewelry. Food is not in short supply, as you might expect with more than 50 vendors on hand. This year, a crowd of 200,000 is expected.

How to choose? Jean Stanley, the festival foundation president, has simple advice: “Come and enjoy a little bit of everything,” she says. “There’s something going on all the time and all the stages simultaneously.” 

Music
The big attraction in 2009, performing on the Wells Fargo/Budweiser Jazz Stage at 9 p.m. Friday, is Emmy-nominated jazz composer and bass player Stanley Clarke, who currently scores music for the ABC Family Channel series “Lincoln Heights.”

Clarke, who is famous from his ’70s-era stint with the jazz-rock group Return to Forever, now is best known for his scores, including work on such films as “What’s Love Got to Do with It?,”  “Passenger 57,” “Little Big League,” “Romeo Must Die” and “The Transporter.”

On Saturday at 9 p.m., the reunited Austin blues rock band Arc Angels, led by famed guitarists/singers Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton, perform. And GRAMMY Award winner and Denton favorite, Brave Combo, who once performed as animated characters in an episode of the popular animated show “The Simpsons,” close the festival on Sunday at 7 p.m. with their wildly contemporary polka crossed with rock and jazz.

Of the six festival stages, three feature the professional performers: jazz bands hit the tempo on the Wells Fargo/Budweiser Jazz Stage; blues, pop and country perform on the Budweiser Courtyard Stage, and the KNTU-FM Roving River Stage hosts a variety of music. Local and area groups also use the Budweiser Courtyard Stage in front of City Hall.

Three other stages — the Wells Fargo Celebration Stage, The Denton-Record Chronicle Festival Stage, and the Target Center Stage — are for students and up-and-comers who want to learn the ropes of professional performing. Terry Nobles, a board member of the Denton Festival Foundation, says the stages are for young talent to perform for family, friends and new fans as well as for seasoned veterans (some up into their 80s).

Arts and Crafts
As the music plays, festivalgoers can browse the sprawling art show,  which boasts  175 artists and craftsmen from across the country.

Starting from inside the Civic Center and spilling outside are displays of fine arts, everything from rustic pottery to delicate jewelry as well as paintings and drawings in every medium, sculptures in wood, metal and ceramic, art glass and photography. The crafts area features items ranging from soaps to toys to dressed-up clocks.

The art booths, which are increasingly popular, display handcrafted items by regulars like Bob and Bill. (Bob, for instance, hand-carves stones from all over the world for his jewelry — royal blues from Afghanistan and Pakistan, opals from Ethiopia and Australia, turquoise from Arizona and Colorado.) Even the kids get a venue to show their creative side. At the Children’s Art Tent, wannabe artists — no matter the age (yes, even adults) — can draw, mold, sculpt, paint or make jewelry under professional guidance.

People make it happen
The festival is a communitywide endeavor involving more than 250 sponsors and in excess of 400 volunteers — an effort that has been hailed by The Texas Commission on the Arts, a governmental agency supporting the arts in Texas through the grant process. “The Denton Arts & Jazz Festival is a prime example of how arts can grow a community and is a model for other organizations throughout the state,” the commission says.

The Denton Festival Foundation, which produces the event, recruits hundreds of “Top Hands” or festival volunteers each year. “While the festival is about the music and art, what really makes the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival unique is the feeling of real community it reflects,” says Carol Short.
Carol says the entire community pitches in, not just the city, but corporate sponsors and private sector as well. “I want people to understand that if it were not for the individuals and businesses in the community that give generously, it would be impossible to have a quality event, and this community demands quality because this is what Denton appreciates and nurtures -– the arts.”

One of those sponsors is Northstar Bank of Texas, which provides monetary support and gets its employees involved. “We are glad to give back and help keep this dynamic festival free to the patrons, which in turn supports local businesses, performers and civic groups,” says Northstar Bank executive Todd Price.

Two other sponsors, Wells Fargo and Texas Woman’s University, agree. “We are proud to be the corporate sponsor of an event that offers high-caliber cultural entertainment for local families,” says Scott Wallace, Wells Fargo’s community banking president. TWU’s Arts & Jazz Fest coordinator Beth Lewis says the university’s continued sponsorship is driven by student leaders who recognize the festival as the community event of the year. “Thanks to local sponsors, the festival is free! Come and go, day or night — no charge!” she says.

The city of Denton, meanwhile, provides police, fire, recycling and park personnel. “As a lifelong resident, I am proud of the commitment from our public and private sectors in promoting our community’s history of music and art,” says Denton City Council member Chris Watts.
Bob Wolf claims he has yet to find another festival that comes close to the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival — both for the arts offered and the community feeling. “You don’t see that many festivals where people volunteer their time for the good of community,” he notes. He drives up from Houston every year to sell his wares while Bill Graham travels from the Ozarks in Arkansas. And then there are those who arrive with just a dream of becoming a star and attracting new fans.

Maybe even 200,000 of them?