Alley Art Festival is an annual art festival on Water Street Mall in downtown Aurora on the last Saturday in August. In 2018, 70 artist vendors lined the newly renovated mall on a hot, muggy day to sell their handmade wares. The day included art, live music, belly dancing, balloon creations, fire-breathing paper dragons, tacos, rootbeer floats, and cotton candy.

Artists donate 10% of their sales for the day back to the festival. This year, artists sold more than$13K worth of their goods.

Aurora Downtown staff, along with volunteers, runs the festival, and all proceeds go into the Alley Art Festival Fund set up through the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley. The fund is dedicated to preserving the great idea of an art festival on Water Street Mall.

Alley Art Festival invites local artists of all ages to promote and sell their work. For more information, visit www.alleyartaurora.com.