The annual Penrod Art Fair is not for the faint of heart.  It contains an entire encampment of art booths with a myriad of techniques, formats, and media.  Four separate stages include a full schedule of performances ranging from classical and choral ensembles, jazz and rock bands, and youth dance groups as well as professional dancers.

This is not a casual undertaking.  Preparation for attendance begins weeks in advance.  First, you have to make sure you’re on the email list so that you know when early bird tickets go on sale.  This is important because you need to save as much money as possible so you will have it to spend at the festival.  

Choosing the right person to go with is of utmost importance.  You must find someone who won’t whine about all the walking or complain about the weather.  It needs to be a person you enjoy being around for an entire day, who knows how to pack for an all-day event.  Ideally, it should be someone who is at least vaguely interested in art.

Drive together to eliminate hassles with parking and shuttle buses.  Don’t get separated unless you want to spend 15 minutes texting to find each other.  Look up the performance schedule so you won’t miss something you want to see.  Be sure to check out all the food options before committing to a generic sandwich because you weren’t aware something unique was just around the bend.

And so I recruited my artsy friend as the prime candidate.  She’s always up for adventures, and loves to go places.  We developed a systematic strategy of how we would cover each section.  But it’s still good to be flexible—when I heard the brass jazz parade band playing, I insisted we chase them down so we could follow them through the grounds.

We went through the Lilly House, enjoying the glimpse into the lifestyle of a bygone era.  When we needed a break from walking, we stopped to enjoy the music, encountering a cappella spirituals, disco songs, and covers of pop tunes.  We marveled at the vast array of beautiful pieces of art.  We tried some unusual food offerings.

We agreed that the opportunities for people watching were well worth the price of admission.  Penrod is billed as “Indiana’s Nicest Day”, and it was clear how it earned that moniker.  We also agreed by mid-afternoon that while we might still have had some physical energy, we didn’t have any mental space left to take in additional sensory stimulation.

Apparently this phenomenon has a name: museum fatigue.  Even if not experienced in a museum, it is applicable to any number of other situations.  There was another festival that day that sounded like fun, and was very close to where we parked for Penrod.  But we just couldn’t do it.  Having a good time can be a lot of work.  

I should point out that the person describing all this (me) is generally pretty extraverted.  I can’t imagine what it was like for my more reserved friend.  It’s a good thing I was driving because the off ramp for Mt. Comfort was closed, necessitating my drive to Greenfield to get off the interstate only to drive west again to drop my friend off at her home in New Palestine.

The best memories are created from a combination of experiences, such as what we encountered at Penrod through art, music, and food.  Add to that a dash of good weather and you have the makings of a great recipe.  But don’t forget the most important ingredient—a good friend willing to share it all with you.