Fifty years ago, gasoline was 12 cents a gallon.

Lawrence Welk had a number one hit with Calcutta, and the Columbus Arts Festival was born.

I'm Norman Fulp.

I was executive director of the downtown area committee in 1961 when we decided that we needed some events downtown.

We were trying to rejuvenate downtown.

First festival was on the statehouse grounds.

There was a stage.

We built a stage right in front of Statehouse.

But will you love me?

1974 was a landmark year for the festival.

The Greater Columbus Arts Council was formed and the festival took on a community feel.

More people became interested in the arts in general.

You have this free event and you get to get a taste without it costing an arm and a leg.

You're building audiences and that's part of what this is all about, building audiences for the arts.

And we had about 110 artists that applied.

Elijah Pierce was at that one also, and he was a friend of mine, and that would be my first time at the festival, you know, it was a big deal, especially since he was there.

Back then, there was a handful of people doing this.

I was one of the first artists who were doing street shows.

There must have been, and we all knew each other.

The first time I went, I remember thinking to myself, this is some of the most beautiful stuff I've ever seen.

How lucky are we that we've got this right here in downtown Columbus?

Under the direction of GCAC, the festival grew to include performances, children's activities and a popular opening night celebration.

It continued to expand because we then started to jury the artists when they came in, because then all of a sudden we're getting 300 applications, which we sure couldn't handle.

We really outgrew the State House lawn, and that's when it moved to the riverfront, because it just became overwhelming downtown.

The 1980s marked two great leaps for the festival.

Ray Henley was hired as the executive director of the Greater Columbus Arts Council.

And the festival moved from the state house lawn to the riverfront.

And there was a hue and cry, and I think maybe Hanley was involved in that, that we should have beer.

And we couldn't serve beer on the statehouse grounds.

I've got to tell you about my friend Ray Hanley.

He used to have these dinners at his house.

His house was like an art gallery, and it was all Columbus art.

And so his house was the first place I discovered that there was great art in Columbus.

And then when you go to the art fest, as you're walking around the different booths, you can see that there's greatness all within the community.

Functional art, things like ceramic earrings, very nicely painted.

I would sneak away from the booth and just go look at all the art and do a little shopping myself while I was there because there's never been, I don't think, such a great collection of art in this city as there is at that annual arts festival.

From every price range and every skill set, it's an amazing, it is an amazing festival.

My guilty pleasure is spending more money than I should.

My guilty is purchasing art.

The dominant theme is I'm a fine art cartoonist and I'm recording my life in cartoons.

We're the only people in the country who build a harp with a curved back, so you don't lean this harp back against you to play it, so it's very comfortable to play.

It's freehand pen and ink work.

It's done with a pen point the size of a single human hair.

Oh my gosh, I have a little bit of everything.

I enjoy learning of the stories from the artists, so every piece in my house has a story behind it.

These are shaker oval boxes.

The shakers originally came up with this basic design.

I love the pottery and the glass.

I also enjoy the jewelry.

What category is it?

Media.

I love DONG, so I work with a lot of DONGs.

I am one of these people.

I'm not sophisticated or educated in the arts at all.

I'm one of those I know what I like kind of people.

Every piece starts with a cloud.

And I'll paint the clouds.

They're my greatest inspiration.

And when the tents come down, that means...

So as soon as Sunday hits 6 o'clock, we're already planning for the next year's festival.

This is the map of our full site, and it takes about nine months to get to this point.

We have everything on here, restrooms, dumpsters, where all the ice trucks are, gray water barrels, I've learned so much.

Do you know what a gray water barrel is?

There are roughly 250 artist booths.

There are another 50 food vendors.

So I would imagine, I don't know, maybe 450 different locations that we have to spot on the map and then make sure it all fits.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, it's pop quiz time.

How many miles of electric cable does the Columbus Arts Festival require during its three-day run?

If you said five miles, you're right.

Question two, how many miles do the volunteers and staff put on all those electric carts?

That one's a little harder.

88 miles?

Surprising.

Maybe not to some.

Here's question number three.

Approximately how many artists have exhibited their work over the past 50 years at the Columbus Arts Festival?

If you said 12,000 and above, you are correct.

Way to go.

Question number four.

In what year did the festival move from the riverfront to the Discovery District?

If you say 2008, you aren't correct.

Thank you for playing the Columbus arts festival quiz.

Between 350,000 and 450,000 people visit the Arts Festival every year.

And it's one of those things that becomes part of your arts calendar for the year.

People watch for it, they know when it is, they build their calendar around it, they're getting ready to come.

I mean, and they have friends and parents come in from out of town.

I mean it's on of those adventures you plan your year around.

I need a lot of people because I have, let's say a lower end product, not like a painter who sells one, if they sell one painting, you know, for $5,000 at a show, that could make his show.

I need A LOT of people and so that's why I need this type of a show.

Fairly easy to setup compared to some.

It's well organized.

The people that run it pretty much have all the little details taken care of.

I probably have been in about 8 or 9 and the reason I can kind of remember that is because I saved a sign.

Many Columbus residents have had to find creative ways to support their buying habits.

And I need to start rotating things like museums do.

I always want something special that I can wear and have somebody say, oh, where did you get that?

And I can say, oh, this is just a little something I picked up at the arts festival.

I want you to sing this with me.

Yeah, yeah.

And it's always fun because I really consider the Arts Fest like a festival for the people.

The Arts Festival is not funded through the city or with any public funds at all.

Our primary funding comes from sponsorships and we're proud to have Time Warner Cable again as presenting sponsor for our 50th anniversary next year.

We're also funded through artist fees that participate in the festival.

And finally, beer and beverage sales help us out and for that we always pray for good weather.

You know, the fact of the matter is that it has gone a long way toward making Columbus a truly vibrant community.

And it's another reason that we support the Arts Festival because, you know, it is something that our employees and our customers care so deeply about, and it allows us to give back in a very meaningful way.

In 2000, Sunshine Artists Magazine, the premier publication for art shows and festivals, released their 200 best.

And the Columbus Arts Festival earned the number one ranking in the fine craft category, and number five in the Fine Art category.

This is a place in which the arts are a vital part of our community.

I mean, we have really become known as a place in which artists will come from all over.

Well I think it's a tribute to this community and how supportive they are of the artists who come into Columbus and to sell their artwork because without the patrons there is no arts festival because the artists can choose one of a million other cities to sell there artwork but they choose to come here.

It's wonderful.

I think that it just shows that the Columbus residents truly appreciate the arts and they understand that it adds to the quality of life and I happen to be able to be on the GCAC board and I know how important that that they are to making sure this event is a successful event.

I truly believe people that come to the Arts Festival are more likely to come to the Art Museum.

They're more likely go to the ballet, to visit, to go to a play.

I believe this is one of those experiences that connect people to the arts.

This show ranks very high in sales.

There's not too many shows in the country that have been around that many years.

50 years, are they collecting their pension yet?

I think the Arts Festival is the greatest thing a city can do to itself.

It celebrates creativity, diversity, and the individual.

I don't attribute it to any idea that we were there to start a legacy who knew that it was going to still be going on 50 years later, but I am particularly proud.

Well, GCAC is very proud of a nationally recognized arts festival.

We're really proud of the support we get from the community and the support we get the volunteers who make this festival possible.

We're also really proud of the artists who join the festival, the breadth and quality of art that those artists bring to the festival.

And we're also very proud that next year will be our 50th anniversary.