FOLIOThis is just a BIG HUGE TREMENDOUS thank you to Elton Rivas, Vince Cavin, Abel Harding and the entire One Spark gang for not taking NO for an answer and producing one of the best festivals this town has seen in years! An especially big thank you to all the volunteers and to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for making it a fun and safe environment. And thank you to the City of Jacksonville for all the work they did to make sure this crazy fun event happened!
Watching the eclectic mix of people that came into the urban core for five days of discovery was magical. Seeing the creative sparks flying, the sharing of ideas and resources, and the general “we want everyone to win” attitude sure did make sure that everyone won.
As a merchant/venue, our experience was nothing but POSITIVE. We enjoyed all of our creators and have started to work with them on other projects as we were so pleased by their initiative. We have been recommending many of the creators we met to others that needed their services. We were humbled by the amount of energy and the lack of “cutthroat” competition but more impressed by the “we are in this together” attitude.
Yes, our sales were up; yes, people came to know that a bookstore exists in Downtown Jacksonville; and yes, we ate a ton of food at the Food Village (I love Corner Taco!). But the biggest “yes” to us was the enjoyment of watching waves of people walking in our beautiful city, enjoying our architecture, history, art and diversity that we should be sharing more and more.
One Spark started the momentum; now lets keep it rolling!
Jennifer O’Donnell
Chamblin’s Uptown
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