BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Mid City merchants took to Government Street Friday evening to showcase local artists and vendors. It spans 7 blocks on Government Street and attracts a large crowd to the city center each year. One shopper, Caleb Dunn, said he has seen the event become a tradition. He even brought his friend from England to experience it.

“I think it’s grown, because I’ve been coming for many years and it’s getting busier and busier, so that’s good,” Dunn said. “I actually showed him around and told him that some of the things we have here in Louisiana are very state-specific things.”

And these things are the work of local artists and businesses who rely on events like this for business. Field Baber has been making pottery for 13 years. He says these types of events bring people and vendors together.

“It allows us to increase our income, many of us are for whom this is actually their job, this is what they know how to do and this is how it is done today,” says Baber. “In terms of getting my name out there, and of course with Bellfire we get to show it first hand as all these people come and say ‘oh yeah, there’s pottery in town'”

Another seller, Trang Nguyn, says you can’t get these unique artworks and items anywhere else, which makes the occasion so special.

“So it’s not mass produced, it’s not things that you can just walk into Target and buy, or walk into a mall and buy,” Nguyn said.

If you missed this evening, you can find a link to the organizer’s website here.

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