FALL RIVER – The first Spindle City Fest was a feast for the mind, body and spirit at the Narrows Center on Saturday.

It featured fine and wearable art, music, food, wine and beer, yoga, Drums Alive, and a variety of holistic services and products.

It was a new kind of festival that will be offered four times each year and will replace the annual Narrows Festival of the Arts.

“We want people to come inside,” said Narrows Executive Director Patrick Norton.

He said the idea is to showcase the culture and life of the city through the arts because art is “more than the Russian ballet. We need to make it more accessible.”

The Narrows Center used its second and third floors to showcase its resident artists plus others that displayed their wares for the day.

While a group practiced their “downward facing dog” yoga pose with Salt Fitness in the entertainment space, artist Thea Earnest of Pawtucket, R.I., manned her booth in the gallery for Urban Sketchers, an international organization made up of local sketching group chapters that draw live in cities and towns to “capture and document where you are.”

Some of her work featured Rhode Island scenes like mills, bridges, houses, and even a chain link fence.

Earnest is starting a Fall River area Urban Sketchers chapter and is currently recruiting artists.

“I’m excited about it,” Earnest said.

Jen Charleson, with a studio in Warren, R.I., was selling her mixed media conjurings, based on constellations and stars – like her sacred geometry series that blend NASA photography with her own designs.

“I’m obsessed,” Charleson said of the stars and universe. “It’s just beyond our reach but accessible to everyone.”

She was chosen to participate in Art of the Cosmos in April 2020, an international show to be held in California that will fuse art and science with NASA’s Hubble science team.

“I’m out of my mind,” an excited Charleson said.

Artist Chuck Boucher opened his resident art studio – chock full of cheerful images that reached nearly to the ceiling -- and discovered lots of new faces.

“It’s been pretty exciting,” Boucher said. “I’m meeting people that have never been in before.”

Diane Berard of Bella Blue Art Studio of Westport displayed hundreds of her handmade leather bracelets to fit every size wrist. It was her first time at the Narrows Center.

“Oh my God, I love it,” Berard said.

She wasn’t alone.

“I think it’s great to bring more art and culture to the city,” said Jose Souza III of IveCreatedaMonstah, based in Tiverton, showing his sculptures based on comic book design. “I’ve always loved Fall River.”

Some other vendors included Deer Mother Herbals, Herbalicious Skincare, Orgone Jewelry Designs, Spencer Holistic, plus tarot card readings. Artisan Ryan O’Keefe of Warwick, R.I. showcased his hand cut and stitched leather goods using leather from a Maine supplier and hardware from Gloucester, RI.

Portugalia Marketplace offered a free wine and cheese tasting, and Troy City Brewing handed out beer samples. Avo’s Feast truck served up its Portuguese fare.

PULSE Mobile, Movement and Music offered two Drums Alive sessions. And the Neal McCarthy Trio performed live.

Norton said future Spindle City Fests will be held on Saturdays, June 8, Sept. 7 and Dec. 7.

Other plans for the Narrows Center space include a yoga studio, retail space, café, and additional artist space.

“It’s a way of celebrating all we do in Fall River,” Norton said.

To learn more about events, concerts and artists at the Narrows Center, 16 Anawan St., visit narrowscenter.org.

Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com.