HOOVER, Ala. — The Bluff Park Art Association has canceled Saturday’s 63rd annual Bluff Park Art Show, citing expected weekend weather and safety concerns for artists, visitors, vendors and volunteers.
The association announced the cancellation Wednesday, three days before the show was scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 3 at Bluff Park Community Park, 517 Cloudland Drive.
“We’re devastated to have to make this decision, but the safety of our artists, patrons, vendors, and volunteers is of the utmost importance,” the association said in a statement reported by ABC 33/40.
The cancellation comes as the National Weather Service forecast showers and thunderstorms for central Alabama during the weekend, with expected rainfall totals of 1.5 to 3 inches and isolated amounts up to 4 inches. The Weather Service said the primary flooding concern at the time of its forecast was poor-drainage areas, while warning residents that lightning can strike well away from a thunderstorm.
The Bluff Park Art Association said it expects to return next year. No make-up date was announced.
The decision cancels one of Hoover’s longest-running community events. The juried outdoor show, traditionally held on the first Saturday in October, brings artists from around Alabama and other states to the historic Bluff Park community. This year’s event was to be the show’s 63rd annual edition.
The association’s website, however, continued Thursday morning to list the Oct. 3 show as scheduled, including its 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. hours and Bluff Park Community Park location. The City of Hoover’s online calendar and a city news release also still listed the event as scheduled. Those pages appear not to have been updated following the association’s cancellation announcement.
That mismatch created potential confusion for artists and visitors checking online schedules. The association’s cancellation statement, as reported by ABC 33/40, is the latest public notice from organizers.
The Bluff Park Art Association is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose roots date to a 1963 school-library fundraising effort. Parents at Bluff Park School first organized a “Come As Your Favorite Book” dance that year, raising $600 for the library, according to the association’s history.
The following year, the Bluff Park PTA held an art-show auction that raised $850. In 1965, many of the same organizers formed an independent nonprofit group and held the second art show at what was then Shades Cliff Community Park. Sixty-five artists participated.
Over time, the fundraiser grew into an annual juried fine-art show and a broader arts organization. The association says it maintains a permanent collection of nearly 100 works that rotate through local schools, libraries and universities; awards college scholarships; funds public art and sculpture; and supports arts education and local organizations.
The organization’s website gives differing attendance figures in separate sections, saying the show draws 3,000 to 4,000 visitors annually in one description while a historical section says it attracts more than 30,000 people. Recent pre-event listings said more than 100 artists, food vendors, music and interactive art activities were planned for Saturday.
The association did not immediately post a cancellation update to its website, and the site does not indicate whether artists will be reimbursed or whether any programming associated with the event will be rescheduled.