News Photo by Darby Hinkley Leah Stafford of Alpena’s pottery is shown on display in the Thunder Bay Arts Council Gallery.

ALPENA — This weekend’s forecast: Partly sunny, with a 100% chance of fun at the 44th Annual Art on the Bay.

The fine arts and crafts show will feature over 115 artisans selling their wares from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday at Bay View Park near the harbor in Alpena.

Organized by Thunder Bay Arts, the event is in its 44th year, since the 2020 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many vendors have signed up for the show, which organizers expect to draw a large crowd, since people are ready to get out and socialize again.

“We’re actually pretty even with what we had two years ago,” Clint Kendziorski, TBA board member, said of vendor participation.

Courtesy Photo John Stevenson of Goetzville works on wine bottle bird feeders that he and his wife Connie create and sell.

He added that the booths are spaced farther apart this year to provide for adequate social distancing, so fewer spaces were available for vendors. Last year’s event had about 130 booths.

A wide variety of fine arts and crafts will be offered, including pottery, paintings, photography, jewelry, woven art, whimsical yard art, and much more.

Many of the vendors are local, and many others are from all over Michigan. Some even come from out of state.

“A lot of the same vendors are back this year,” Kendziorski said. “They love Alpena. They always say it’s one of the friendliest towns they’re in, and they really love the setting.”

Since flooding has been an issue in recent years, TBA had looked into possibly moving the event to another location, but water levels are lower this year, so the board ultimately decided to keep the event at Bay View Park.

Courtesy Photo Swirled bread made by Aleksa Fortuna of Plymouth.

“Every place has its challenge,” Kendziorski noted. “Our challenge is the water coming up … but everything pointed us right back to where we were.”

He said the event has become very popular, and he’s glad the weather looks like it will cooperate.

“We normally have about 3,000 people walk through,” he noted. “I would think it would either be that or bigger, just because people are excited to get out and get around … They’ve been cooped up for a year, so there should really be a lot of people.”

Organizers and vendors are happy to be back.

“We’re very excited that this is happening again, that we’re able to do it,” Kendziorski said. “It’s just nice to be able to see people out and around again, being able to enjoy themselves.”

Courtesy Photo A macrame wall hanging made by Brooke Francis and Joellen Wallen of B & J Macrame out of Hubbard Lake.