12 things to do at the Arts Festival

If we published any sort of must-see or must-do list for the Des Moines Arts Festival this weekend, it would: 1) be overwhelming and 2) make us sound pretty bossy.

So let's assume you're already going to the festival (because you're a civilized sophisticated Register reader) and you could use a few suggestions. We've loosely ranked a few of them on a scale from active to passive, based on festival director Stephen King's observation that the variety of hands-on stuff to do has really taken off this year – with collaborative art projects, photo walks, screen printing and more.

But what about the visitors who just want to sit back and relax?

King laughed. "Send 'em to the Jazz and Wine Pavilion," he said. "They can just sit in a corner and be awash in cultural activity."

INTERACTIVE

1. Help the Habitat for Humanity team build another house during the festival, starting with a ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday at 12th and Locust streets. Volunteer groups have already signed up for most of the work, but let them know if you want to pitch in.

2. Focus your camera skills during a photo-walk guided by Register photographers at 11 a.m. Saturday. You can post your shots online (#IA365) or, with any luck, see them later in print. The walk is free, but reservations are a good idea; sign up at DesMoinesRegister.com/2015photowalk.

3. While you have your camera (or smartphone), submit a shot or two to the digital mosaic Principal Financial Group is building to re-create artist Benjamin Frey's official festival poster, an image of the arched Iowa Women of Achievement Bridge over the river near Wells Fargo Arena. Zap your photos to social media (#DMAF2015) and then check the project's real-time progress on a screen at 13th and Locust streets. The final product will be posted on the festival's website after the weekend.

4. Paint a gigantic aluminum goldfinch sculpture slated for installation this fall at the Des Moines airport. Sculptor Bounnak Thammavong of Swisher, Ia., won the commission from Metro Arts Alliance, but you can help him paint the bird and make tiny bird-shaped kites that will fly behind it, suspended from the airport's ceiling. Find the "Birds of a Feather" throughout the weekend at 13th Street and Grand Avenue.

5. Buy a souvenir T-shirt or, for $20, screen print a new one with help from the student designers from ArtForceIowa at either of the festival-swag tents at 13th and Grand Avenue or 15th and Locust Street.

SORT OF ACTIVE

6. Walk a lap or two around all 195 exhibiting artists' tents, including the dozen Emerging Iowa Artists from in-state colleges and universities.

7. Chow down on fare from 26 food booths and five food trucks, which this year offer Gusto pizza, Thelma's ice cream sandwiches, kebabs, kettle corn and plenty more at both ends of Locust Street. Afterward, wash it all down at the Iowa Craft Beer tent at 12th street and Grand Avenue.

8. Help local artist Ian Miller and a group of carnival-masked actors collectively known as Satyrus Jeering tell the story of "The Nitch," about a ragtag band of animals, at 12:30 p.m. Friday, 1:30 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday at the Community Choice Credit Union stage west off 15th Street. Other acts on that stage include blues rocker Jacob County and the Damaged Goods (8:30 p.m. Friday), Ballet Des Moines (5 p.m. Saturday) and the honky-tonk bluegrass group The Mayflies (8:30 p.m. Saturday).

9. Admire the new "art bus" scheduled for unveiling at 11:30 a.m. Friday on 12th Street. The joint project by the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation will then roll into regular use on various routes around town.

TOTALLY RELAXED

10. Plop down in the air-conditioned Central Library and watch any of the Interrobang Film Festival's 49 entries about, among other things, grapes in the South of France ("Harvest"), strange records ("The World's Largest Ball of Twine") and unusual animal behavior ("When Pigs Swim"). Find a complete schedule on the festival's website.

11. Listen to a concert on the Hy-Vee stage on 12th Street. This year's lineup includes a lot of blues and folk during the day, plus the mellow Nashville star Mat Kearney, at 8:30 p.m. Friday, and classic rocker Eddie Money, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

12. Pull up a chair at the Meredith Jazz and Wine Pavilion and watch the world go by. There are worse ways to spend a few hours.

MORE:

• Could Des Moines Arts Festival become like Lollapalooza?
  
• Des Moines Arts Festival offers 'explosion' of interactivity
• Q&A: An artists' take on Des Moines' new Art Week

The Des Moines Arts Festival

When: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Western Gateway, along Grand Avenue and Locust Street between 10th and 15th streets.

Admission: Free.

ATMs: Several automatic tellers will be stationed throughout the festival grounds.

Parking: All city meters are free starting at 6 p.m. Friday. Find parking ramps nearby at Seventh Street and Grand Avenue, Ninth Street and Grand Avenue, and south of Nationwide/Allied Insurance. Handicap parking is available near 12th and Walnut streets, and free bike parking is at 15th Street and Grand Avenue.

Shuttles: Free shuttle buses run every 15 minutes between the corner of 12th and Walnut streets and ArtFest Midwest, slated for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Free parking is also available at the fairgrounds.

Street closures: Several streets near the downtown festival will remain closed through 6 a.m. Monday, June 29.

Info:www.desmoinesartsfestival.org.

Updates: Check back throughout the week for #DMAF2015 news from arts reporter@MichaelMorain on Twitter and at DesMoinesRegister.com/ArtsFestival.