The Summerlin Art Festival 2013

This annual event has established itself as a "can't miss" event.  It's the perfect setting to enjoy a nice day of food, music and art.  This year's festival was held in the Summerlin Centre Park, surrounded by palm trees and views of the Red Rock Mountains.

This year's festival included performances by the Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre on both days.   On Sunday, the Nevada School of the Arts NSA Chamber Music performed with members of the Las Vegas Philharmonic.  The editor of the Desert Companion Magazine shared the bandstand with one of the trampoline performers from Cirque du Soleil's new Michael Jackson show later in the afternoon.  Kids in the audience were able to hear first hand what it's like to be a Cirque performer.

 Many of the restaurants and food trucks showed up with treats to enjoy.  The festival started off on a "foodie" note with ice sculpture carved by Chef Boupha from Las Vegas Cordon Bleau College.  The carved ice bunny at their booth was a hit with the younger crowd throughout the day.

Each year the selection of art that is displayed seems to be more incredible than the previous year.  The types of art include jewelry, photography, sculptures, traditional paint on canvas.  There's always something new at this festival.

We also see a nice mix of local artists and folks who come from other States.  In particular this year, we enjoyed the art work of Val Simon.  Val lives in Southern Cal but her son lives in Summerlin.  She learned about the festival through him and decided to give it a try.  She does beautiful wildlife paintings, including many of elephants that were inspired by the "Elephant Whisperer".  Val's story and a few other artists' stories are outlined in this post by our friend Diane Brogan.

The stars of the festival are the Chalk Artists.  These artists pay a small fee to get space on the sidewalk where they create their own masterpiece.  Some of the proceeds go to benefit the Discovery Children's Museum.  They start when the festival opens on Saturday morning and by Sunday afternoon, the judges pick the winners.  This year's Chalk Art Winners are listed on the festival's main website.  We made it to the first day and hoped to return for photos of the final chalk art.  Unfortunately, our busy schedule didn't allow for that.  We do notice that a couple of our favorites made the top three.  Too bad they don't last longer.  Some of the final chalk drawings are truly incredible.

Once again, this turned out to be one of our favorite annual events.  The weather co-operated, the music, food and art were good.  We especially like that it's a pet friendly place to bring our four legged children.

At the end of the festival, the Hughes Corporation also announced the winners of voting for the "Best of Summerlin 2013".  Winners in 13 categories are listed here.  Through activities like this and the amenities that are built into the community, the Hughes Corporation has created a great place to call home.

This continues to be one of the top 10 selling master planned communities in the Country.  Residents love the amenities that include great parks, the shopping, the restaurants and the location.  If you would like more info on buying or selling your Summerlin home, call (702)354-6900 or email [email protected].