Downtown packed for Spring Art Walk

Credit the gloomy economy or the rainy spring weather, but downtown Bigfork was full of people on Saturday out enjoying the sunshine at the Spring Art Walk.

"People were ready to get out of the house for a good time and a party," said Tammy Rieke, who owns Rieke's Bayside Gallery with her husband, Gary.

Cars lined Electric Avenue and shops were full to bursting in what is one of the first big events of the tourist season.

"If only we could bottle that weather," Rieke said.

The Spring Art Walk was also the stage for the grand opening of a new downtown gallery, the Persimmon Gallery, which occupies the building previously used by Midnight Sun Gallery.

"We're doing great, better than we thought we would at this time of year," Jill Gotschalk, one of the members of the galleries cooperative, said. "We're getting all kinds of positive comments."

Persimmon's grand opening was popular all over downtown thanks to the musical talents of Bigfork's Linda Ensign and Kalispell's Joel Knadler, who performed from the balcony above the gallery to the delight of the crowd.

"The music was wonderful," Rieke said. "It was an added feature this year and we plan to keep working on that."

As usual, galleries provided light food and drink for those browsing Bigfork's offerings. The new kid on the block was serving — no surprise here — persimmon punch and dried persimmon slices.

And it seemed to be working.

"This is the most people we've ever had in here at one time," Gotschalk said.