It all began in the spring of 1970, about ten years following the premiere of the original "Ann Arbor Street Fair". A group of young artists from Ann Arbor began working on a separate art fair which would give emerging artists, craftspeople and art students a chance to “take to the streets.” Calling it the "Free Arts Festival", they set up this “free fair” on the University of Michigan's “Diag” on Central Campus. Funding and management for this new fair was provided by the participating artists themselves. As these young artists matured so did the "Free Arts Festival", which became an official member of the "Ann Arbor Art Fair" and in the mid-70s was renamed the "Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair".