Date/Time
Saturday, October 3rd, 2026 | 9:00am - 11:30am
Where We Will Meet
1st-floor lobby of the Uptown Station Parking Deck
Where The Walk Will End
11 Uptown Circle, Normal, IL 61761, USA
About This Walk
Hi everyone! Here is the official plan for our Sugar Creek Arts Festival photo walk on Saturday, October 3, in Normal, IL. All levels of photographers and camera types are welcome including cell phones. Feel free to copy these details down for the day:
📍 9:00 AM – Meet-up & Staging
We will meet at 9:00 AM sharp inside the 1st-floor lobby of the Uptown Station Parking Deck (11 Uptown Circle, Normal, IL). To avoid festival road closures, make sure you approach the deck from the west via West Beaufort Street. The first hour of parking is free, and it’s $1 per hour after that. If the deck happens to be full, use the College Avenue Deck (101 W Mulberry St) as a backup.
📸 9:15 AM – 11:30 AM – The Photo Walk
Once we gather, we will hit the festival streets together. We’ll be walking up and down the main festival lanes radiating from Uptown Circle. Bring your favorite walkaround lens (something versatile like a 24-105mm or 24-240mm works perfectly here), pack a rain sleeve just in case the afternoon storms hit early, and make sure your batteries are fully charged. There is a ton to shoot, so let your creativity run wild! Keep an eye out for:
- Arts & crafts booths and detailed close-ups of artists at work and their artwork
- The 2 stages of live music features and performances
- The unique brick architecture and vantage points of Uptown Normal
- Candid street portraits of festival-goers and street performers
- Pets accompanying their owners throughout
- Food vendors, food trucks, and abstract angles of festival treats
- Anything you want to capture!
🚗11:30 AM – Head Back to the Cars & Drive to Lunch
We will wrap up our street shooting around 11:30 and walk back to the Uptown Station parking deck to pack up our gear and head out for lunch at Bob Evans.
NOTE: To get to lunch without hitting festival traffic, follow this quick driving route:
- Exit the parking deck onto W Beaufort St heading west (away from the circle).
- Turn left (south) onto S University St or S Fell Ave, then quickly turn left onto W Vernon Ave.
- Follow W Vernon Ave as it heads east and turns into E Vernon Ave.
- Turn right onto IAA Dr in Bloomington and follow it straight to your destination.
🍳 12:00 PM – Lunch & Photo Discussion
We will meet up at Bob Evans — East Side (801 IAA Dr, Bloomington, IL) for our 12:00 PM reservation. We can grab a bite to eat, warm up with some coffee, and look over our camera screens to discuss our favorite shots from the morning!
See you all at 9:00 AM on Saturday for a fun photo walk!