Art Walk Friday Nov 6 downtown, where are y'all parking? and is Oak Street still a mess?

Art Walk is coming up Friday Nov 6, starting at 5 downtown. My wife and I went a couple of years back and had a really good time, but I remember circling for a good fifteen minutes looking for a spot and then hiking about four blocks in the cold. This time I'd like to have a plan before we leave the house on Salem Road.

Two questions for anybody who's been or knows the area:

1. Where's the best place to park that isn't a nightmare? Is there a lot people forget about, or is it just get there early and hope?

2. Is the Oak Street work still going? I've driven past and it looked torn up, but I haven't tried walking it. If the sidewalks are blocked or there's a detour, I'd like to know before I take my mother-in-law down there in her good shoes.

Also curious which galleries and shops are worth a stop. I'm a sucker for the handmade stuff, quilts, fiber, woodwork, anything where you can tell somebody actually sat there and made it. And I always end up staring at the brick and the old storefront windows downtown, because the home repair nerd in me can't help it. Somebody did some nice tuck pointing on a few of those buildings.

The city has its events calendar up here if anyone wants to double check times: City of Conway 2026 events calendar

Oh, and if there's a Wampus Cat game that same night I'm guessing traffic gets interesting. Anyone know?

Ha, the Wampus Cat question is my kind of question. I haven't looked up whether it's a home game that night, and with it being early November it could be a playoff week, so check the schedule. If it IS at home, kickoff is 7 and the mess is mostly out by the high school and around Dave Ward and Donaghey, not downtown itself. Art Walk people will already be walking around by then. If you're coming from Salem Road you can probably dodge the worst of it anyway.

For parking, don't even try for a spot right on Front Street, you'll just circle like last time. I'd head a few blocks out toward the courthouse side and walk in. It's maybe a 3-4 minute walk, and you get a real spot instead of the 15 minute hunt. Get there by 5 or 5:15 if you can, it fills up fast after that.

Oak Street was still narrow and coned off in spots the last time I was down there, so I'd have your mother-in-law get dropped at the corner or stick to the side that's open. Watch the curbs and uneven patches in good shoes. It's fine, just awkward. Bring a jacket too, it gets cold quick once the sun goes down.