Music, art vendors and food trucks together with browsers of all ages ambled about wares and a lively and festive mood despite an drops of rain and sounds of thunder.

The FAT Village Arts District ArtWalk in downtown Fort Lauderdale on the last Saturday of every month regularly draws hundreds to this creative night-time showcase of arts, community and neighborhood collaboration. A local favorite art walk, FAT Village joined forces with Sailboat Bend Artist Lofts, the MASS (Music and Arts South of Sunrise) District; and Midtown District along the Sistrunk corridor, connecting through free trolleys rides on a hop-on/hop-off system. More than 36 vendors of food, jewelry, crafts, wearable art, plants and hangable art.
It was easy to move around and browse in the yard with vendors selling vintage items, jewelry, food, clothing and art. Storefronts featured custom-made art – much of it wearable.
Across the way, on NW 1st Avenue, Sixth Star Entertainment’s dark warehouse opened its doors giving visitors a view into a jumble of art, fabric and props. The business creates sets for Broadway shows, casino shows, cruise ships and concerts. Visitors gazed wide-eyed and snapped photos of larger-than-life objects including a “Mad Scientist” lab, a child-size gingerbread house, a giant high heel sandal, a poster of James Bond and a bench with a hungry Jaws the shark. 80s hair metal blasted, creating the feel as if the B-52s had a love child with Def Leppard.
A few doors down The Projects gallery show “Down They Forgot As Up They Grew” presented works by Nathalie Alfonso, Valeria Guillen, April Hartley, and Auroroa Molina. The self-reflective artists’ work in the installation mounted on the walls and floors and hung from the ceiling, sending patrons of all ages around the gallery to examine the work.
It is worth the visit to FAT Village to enter into artists studios and display like curator Leah Brown’s disturbingly life-like but fantastical human/animal sculptures outside the gallery.