Over the last 15 years, Hyattsville’s “Arts & Ales” Festival has become the signature event for the Route 1 corridor and surrounding area.

This annual event, which is free and open to the public, is set to take place from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, and will showcase nearly 100 artists and crafters working in various mediums, along with craft alcohol, local restaurants, and live music.

Now in its 15th year, the annual festival takes place along several blocks in downtown Hyattsville, just off Baltimore Avenue, and is expected to attract around 5,000 people.

After an initial effort fizzled in 2004, the festival started in earnest in 2009 as EYA was building the Arts District row homes. Working with local groups, the developer held a small arts festival with about 30 vendors to help sell homes.

Other developers also supported the festival the first few years, but once the homes were sold, the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation (CDC) took over full responsibility and began expanding it, adding local brewers in 2016.

This year’s festival will also feature local favorites Franklins, Denizens Brewing Co., Streetcar 82 Brewing Co. and Maryland Meadworks as well as Twin Valley Distillers, Bullshine Distillery, Liquid Intrusion and The Brewer’s Art from elsewhere in Maryland.

Stuart Eisenberg, executive director of the Hyattsville CDC, told the Hyattsville Wire the event generates about a half million dollars and valuable publicity for the city as an arts and dining destination.

“The word gets out regionally and statewide that Hyattsville and the Arts are indelibly linked,” he said.

If you arrive early, you can join the Anacostia Trails Heritage Area for a Historic Hyattsville Public Art Walking Tour Saturday morning at 4318 Gallatin Street in  Hyattsville starting at 10 a.m. A $15 donation for tour is suggested. Be sure to register here.

And if you stay late, DJs with the Hy-Fi Groove Society will host a dance party on the lawn at 33rd and Farragut Street after the festival to celebrate its 15 year anniversary, while vendors and officials dismantle the tents.

Parking is available all day for $5 at Hyattsville Justice Center Garage at 43rd Ave and Rhode Island Ave.

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