Coeur d’Alene’s massive Art on the Green boasts art, food and music

Art on the Green isn’t strictly visual art. It’s also flamenco dance, cotton candy and hip-hop “flash mobs.”

More on those later. But first, let’s run the numbers on Coeur d’Alene’s annual arts extravaganza, just to give you an idea of the scope of this Inland Northwest institution:

• It will have 140 artist booths spread across the North Idaho College campus.

• Artists will converge from 11 states, including California, the Midwest and beyond.

• 30 music, dance and theater acts will perform nearly nonstop on two stages.

• The event requires between 500 and 700 volunteers, including hundreds just to man the food booths.

• $5,000 in cash will be awarded in the Juried Art Show, which will feature 114 works.

• Art on the Green has reached Year No. 42.

These numbers all add up to one of the biggest community arts festivals in the Inland Northwest.

“It’s a massive undertaking,” said Dick Trudell, a volunteer in charge of publicity. “Between the food and the grounds and eight committees, it requires a lot of volunteers.”

It’s all made possible by those volunteers and the Citizens Council for the Arts.

Art is, of course, the main attraction. Those 140 booths cover a huge range of genres, including glass art, jewelry, leatherwork, pottery, painting and photography.

Then, you can head over to the big 100-foot tent to check out the juried art. Judging will take place Friday morning.

For art on a budget, check out the popular Clothesline area near the main entrance. Here you’ll find original artworks priced from $5 to $60.

Two stages, the North Stage and South Stage, give people the opportunity to see many of the region’s well-known performing groups for free.

One of those groups is especially large: the Coeur d’Alene Symphony. If you hanker after classical music, you can also check out the Coeur d’Alene Youth Symphony and the Coeur d’Alene Opera.

The rest of the lineup is studded with well-known regional names: The Clumsy Lovers, Big Red Barn, Milonga, Mon Cheri, Kathy Colton & the Reluctants, and many more.

The lineup includes groups from outside the region as well, including the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers, who play Celtic music.

The Saturday evening headliner will be the Arte Flamenco Dance Theatre, a Los Angeles-based dance company specializing in Spanish classical dances and regional folk dances. Expect castanets, classical guitars and colorful, authentic costumes.

And the North Stage will also host a “mega-dance event” on Saturday for National Dance Day.

The Inland Northwest Dance Association will teach a NappyTabs hip-hop dance routine to the crowd and then everyone will perform it in what they’re calling a “flash mob,” which will be filmed for TV.

The Inland Northwest Dance set begins at 11 a.m. Saturday; those who want to be part of the flash mob should show up by at least