Ann Arbor Art Fair kicks off amid air quality alert, wildfire smoke

It's the first day of the Ann Arbor Art Fair, the city's biggest event of the year outside of the University of Michigan football season. 

Thousands of vendors and visitors are in town, even with thick smoke filling the air.

With vendors enduring heat and wildfire smoke for several hours on Thursday at the Ann Arbor Art Fair, many of them say it won't hold them back from staying open all three days.

The few who aren't open for business on Thursday say it's out of concern for their employees' health and to protect their art.

It was actually the fairgoers who helped a vendor deal with the unexpected smoke.

"I got really lucky. A sweet couple was coming by, and they asked me if I wanted a mask, and I was like, 'Thank you so much.' I was trying to make a pit stop on the way here at Target or somewhere to grab one. I got lucky," said Boo Lee Studio vendor Sean Adams.

Many of these vendors who travel the country selling at art shows are used to persevering through the elements.

"I think the mask thing is great, but so far I'm just treating it like a normal show. People are still coming out, and everybody kind of figures out how to make it more comfortable for themselves in the heat and the smoke," said Ann Arbor Art Fair featured artist Jonah Ballard.

The air quality didn't seem to slow down traffic on the art fair's first day, as organizers took a few extra steps to help out their vendors.

"I was up about 6:30 a.m. this morning running to Lowe's and Menards getting as many masks as I could so we could give our vendors at least the option to wear an N-95," said State Street District Art Fair executive director Nick Lemmer.

Art fair directors say the event is planned to continue all three days as scheduled, but they are giving artists an option to operate on altered hours. That includes opening at noon on Friday, two hours later than usual, due to the wildfire smoke.