Three full days with three different fairs of art, music, crafts and food add up to one huge cultural festival in downtown Bellevue this weekend.

The annual event begins at 9:30 a.m. today with the Bellevue Arts and Crafts Fair and at 10 a.m. with the Bellevue Festival of the Arts and the Sixth Street Arts & Crafts Fair and Taste of Bellevue. If getting out of work early is a problem, have no worries because the celebration will continue into the evening, and happen all over again on Saturday and Sunday.

This marks the 59th year of the Bellevue Arts and Crafts Fair and is a fitting follow-up to the reopening of the Bellevue Arts Museum last month. After closing its doors in 2003 because of financial hardships and exhibits that lacked appeal to a broad range of people, the museum board decided to go back to its festival roots and focus on crafts and design. Proceeds of the event garnered partly through sponsorships will benefit the museum.

Festival preview

Bellevue Arts and Crafts Fair: Friday and Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Bellevue Arts Museum and Bellevue Square; free (425-519-0770 or www.bellevueart.org).

Bellevue Festival of the Arts: Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Cost Plus parking lot on the corner of Bellevue Way Northeast and Northeast 8th Street; free (206-363-2048 or www.bellevuefest.org).

Sixth Street Arts & Crafts Fair and Taste of Bellevue: Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., along 106th Avenue Northeast between Northeast 4th and 8th streets, and along Northeast 6th Street from Bellevue Square to the Bellevue Galleria; free (425-453-1223 or www.bellevuedowntown.org).

Shuttle info: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. every 15 minutes from South Bellevue at Bellevue Way S.E. and 112th Ave. S.E.; South Kirkland at 108th Ave. N.E. and N.E. 38th Place; Houghton off of I-405 at N.E. 70th Place; free

Parking info: Saturday and Sunday, fair hours, City Center Bellevue at 500 108th Ave. N.E. and Symetra Financial Center, 777 108th Ave. N.E.; $1

"The sponsors are very important to us for more ways than just the dollars," said Barbara Jirsa, director of external affairs for BAM. "This is very much a community-born event, and the companies are part of that family."

Also part of the community family are the other two hosts of the weekend's festivities. This will be Craft Cooperative of the Northwest's 21st year and the Bellevue Downtown Association's sixth.

No matter a person's age, tastes or purse strings, there likely will be something to fit the fancy of all fairgoers.

For the little ones there is an art-making Kidsfair inside BAM on the first-floor loading dock until 6 p.m. each day. The activities include face and tile painting, build-your-own windsocks, wire sculptures or tea pots, a zany worm exercise and learning how to print on light-sensitive fabric. If that's not enough, there will be storytelling, dancing and musical insects inside the auditorium.

For the adult fairgoer, there will be more than 500 art vendors to check out along West Drive, 106th Avenue Northeast, the first level of the BAM parking garage and the Cost Plus parking lot. The goods for purchase include original artwork, home decor, jewelry and wearables.

There also will be a wide variety of live music, from classical to rock 'n' roll, at the Bellevue Galleria, the Celebration Arts Stage across from BAM and the Cost Plus parking lot.

Getting to and from the event is also easier this year as all three hosts have teamed up with the city to offer free shuttle service on Saturday and Sunday from South Bellevue, South Kirkland and Houghton. Parking will be available on Saturday and Sunday for $1 at City Center Bellevue and Symetra Financial Center.