Sputnik, a ship wreck, and the March of the Crows: Art in the Open is Saturday

Charlottetown will host the seventh annual Art in the Open Saturday, with art installations throughout the downtown and in Victoria Park.

The festival has already attracted national attention this year, when Sputnik Returned 2, which was set up on Grafton Street last weekend, was almost towed by Charlottetown police.

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For co-curator Becka Viau, the incident was strangely appropriate, because the festival is all about art catching you by surprise.

"There's something pretty magical about bumping into something totally unexpected, inspired, imaginative, something that totally changes your perspective," said Viau.

'It's just pure love'

This year's festival will continue in the tradition of presenting a wide variety of work, about 40 exhibits in total.

There will be a performance by Lenny MacPherson in the loading dock at Confederation Centre ("pelly's beliefs'll cuff ya with the breath of a Hot garage"); a two-part installation about the wreck of the Fairy Queen in the Kirk of St. James and Victoria Park; and the always popular March of the Crows, for which hundreds of Islanders dress up in crow costumes.

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Viau said the festival requires a huge amount of work, including the efforts of about 100 volunteers.

"The energy around this festival is unlike any other and I would never trade it for anything else," she said.

"Every year I can curse it for the amount of energy that goes into this eight-hour event but in the end it's just pure love."

The festival opens at 4 p.m. and runs until midnight.

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