For the first time in eight years, Riverside will this weekend host a village-sponsored art festival featuring artists from across the Midwest region. The juried show will feature nearly 40 artists in nine different categories, including painting, photography, sculpture, works on paper, ceramics, collage, glass, jewelry and 3D functional works.

The event will take place both Saturday and Sunday.

In the works for the past year, the Riverside Art Festival is the first such village offering since the last Riverfest event in 1998. This year’s event is sponsored by the village’s Economic Development Commission and organized by Chicago Special Events Management. It will be held in and around Centennial Park in the downtown area. East Avenue will be closed to traffic during the event, which will include not only art but activities for children and families, musical entertainment and more.

The hours of the festival will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days.

“I think as a community offering, I look at it as a nice event that fits in with the community’s character and will attract some regional attention,” said Village Manager Kathleen Rush. “If the reaction is good we’ll try to stick with it.”

While Rush said she had hoped the event would have attracted more artists, she said that the way to ensure a larger festival in future years is for the event to get a good reputation among the artists themselves. And you do that by going and buying art.

“That’s how you get artists to return,” Rush said.

Organizers are hoping to help that along by holding a silent auction of artwork on Sunday, Sept. 17. Proceeds from the silent auction will be split between the artists and the village.

“It’s one way to get the art out into the community and displayed on a permanent basis,” Rush said. “It helps the community and event and gets work on display in houses and local businesses.”

Strolling musical entertainment will be provided on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. by Improm-II, an acoustic folk duo that will perform traditional folk tunes. They’ll be followed from 1 to 4 p.m. by Tastes Like Chicken. In the festival’s children’s area, music will be performed by Mark and Jean from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On Sunday, traditional dulcimer music will be offered by Dona and Dan Benkert from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and by Bear Creek, a duo specializing in 19th-century music played on such instruments as dulcimers, fiddle and penny whistle, from 1 to 4 p.m. Kids face painting will be available on both days in the children’s area from 1 to 4 p.m.

Adults can also take a break at the wine tent, which will be open both days and manned by members of both the Riverside Township Chamber of Commerce and Riverside village government. Wine is being donated by Parallel 42, which will get a ringside view of the fest on East Avenue.

“I think as far as our concept here, art goes right along with it,” said Parallel 42 owner Carl Choate. “It kind of brings it right to our front door. We want to support the arts in the community, and I think it’s going to be a great event.”

One original aspect of the event, the Chalkfest, will not be making its debut, however. According to Rush, just two of the artists chosen for the event showed an interest in producing chalk art work especially for the Riverside Art Festival.

Instead, kids will be able to produce sidewalk chalk art during the event; no chalk art work will be auctioned off as originally planned.

Still, the festival will be a way to showcase Centennial Park and the recently restored water tower.

“One of the things we’ve talked about is making Centennial Park more of a focal point within the village,” Rush said. “It’s close to the central business district and perhaps we can increase walking traffic in the district. Plus, the water tower is such a beautiful setting.”