10-25-2024 8:18pm

More than family fun, old Bowie festival seen as a spot to showcase art

A stilt walker entertains children at the Old Bowie Celebrates! festival Oct. 5 in the historic section of Bowie, Maryland. Peter Riccio/The Bowie Sun.

BOWIE, Md. – Quiet and quaint Old Town Bowie came alive Oct. 5 with thousands turning out for an annual festival that celebrates the city’s roots through historical exhibits and cultural performances.

The 4,000 to 5,000 attendees was the largest turnout for the festival since it started in 2021, according to the Old Bowie Arts & Heritage Steering Committee, one of the organizers of the event.

On a sunny fall day, the festival brought increased foot traffic to old Bowie where a revitalization plan is underway. The stream of visitors here for weekend fun was a welcome sight for local artists and business owners.

Henry Bazemore, 86, of Caleb’s Crafts and Clayworks, is an eight-year veteran of the event who came from Fort Washington to showcase his art.

“It’s a chance to get my work seen, and I do get quite a few repeats. I’m beginning to know a few people up here now that look for me every year. I deem that pretty good,” he said.

For Lauren Lay, a 67-year-old one-time United Methodist pastor and long-time artist, the festival was the perfect introduction to her new neighborhood. She had just moved to the area two days prior but made this event a priority.

Lay had a booth in which she was selling original textiles and getting to know the locals. “I like doing festivals because you get to meet a lot of people, [and] you get to share your art [with them].”

Hank Lloyd, a 70-year-old local who helped bus people to and from the festival, said that for some, it was a place of reunion.

“People love coming here,” Lloyd said. “ I have a group of guys that graduated from Bowie High School whose 50-year reunion is going to be over at Martin’s Crosswinds tonight, and so a lot of them got on the bus and they were meeting over there at the festival today.”

Chris Keller, owner of Christopher’s Antiques, was pleased with the festival crowd. “The festival had more people down there than I had seen in a long time,” he said when reached by phone.

“It opened their eyes to what was down here, it was positive in every aspect,” Keller said.

Nestled in the heart of old Bowie is a welcome house, antique shops, a playground made to resemble a town, trails, and a railroad museum on Chestnut Avenue. These sites offered a glimpse into Bowie’s storied past and fun for younger festival goers.

Before it was named Bowie, the city was known as Huntington, a bustling railroad stop with “shops, hotels, and comfortable Victorian houses,” according to the Bowie Railroad Museum.

The neighborhood history is further chronicled in a Prince George’s County inventory of historic sites: “In 1882, the town commissioners changed the name of the town to Bowie, in honor of Governor Oden Bowie, whose efforts helped establish the railroad in Prince George’s County.”

The next chapter of old Bowie is yet to be written, but here is a sneak peek: The revitalization plan proposes connecting the neighborhood to Bowie State University through trails and hosting more seasonal events like festivals, an outdoor market and art walks.

“The city of Bowie is trying to turn us into an arts district,” Keller said, enthused by the idea.

The festival sponsors are the City of Bowie and the Old Bowie Arts & Heritage Committee.

More information: The following books about old Bowie are available at city museums:

Peter Riccio covers Bowie as part of the University of Maryland Local News Network.

Catherine Hollingsworth contributed to this report.

This story was updated Oct. 29 to include the number of attendees based on information from the Old Bowie Arts and Heritage Steering Committee.

This article was updated Nov. 20 to correct the festival sponsors, which are the City of Bowie and the Old Bowie Arts & Heritage Committee, not the Huntington Heritage Society.