Machine Artist Carl Zachmann said the Cherry Creek Arts Festival meant just a little more than any other.

“I came to this festival as a kid,” said Zachmann, sitting in a raised folding chair across the street from his exhibit, watching those who ducked their heads under the tent to take a deeper look at his work.

“This is where all of my interests in art history and engineering came together,” he added.

Zachmann was one of the 260 artists who participated in the festival that took place over the three-day July 4 weekend, featuring a wide variety of works, including paintings, sculptures, photography, woodworking and more.

Originally from Minnesota, Zachmann — who specializes in installations made with interlocking gears — came to the festival in the 1990s with his father and fellow machine artist, Jeffrey.

For him, seeing people interact with his exhibit at Cherry Creek brought a sense of nostalgia that he once experienced himself.

“Art is designed to make you feel things,” Zachmann said. “One of the nice things about the arts festival is that it tends to be pretty much all positive feelings. It’s just fun to watch people interact (with my art) and talk to them.”

Jeffrey Zachmann was also exhibiting his artwork at the festival on Saturday, sitting, just like his son, in a raised folding chair facing the entrance of his exhibit, an umbrella keeping the sun off his head. His exhibit featured a number of kinetic ball sculptures made of welded metal.

“We share a studio space back home, so we can bounce ideas off each other,” Jeffrey Zachmann said, speaking about his son. “He looks at things a little differently sometimes, the artistic elements and such, and it makes me rethink what I’m doing.”

That he he works with his son so closely and join him in exhibits across the country is not lost on the kinetic artist, who added that the experience has also deepened his interactions with those who come and speak to him about his work.

“There was somebody here just a little bit ago. They’ve been coming to the show since they were really little, and they always come to see me,” Jeffrey Zachmann said. “It’s like, ‘Wow, it’s real cool that they seek me out after 20, 30 years.'”

In addition to the exhibiting duo, families in attendance were all over the festival on Saturday.

Children staying cool with popsicles and lemonade could be seen throughout 2nd Avenue, ducking with their families in and out of tents and other shaded areas.

Additionally, the festival offered a children’s art area, giving kids an opportunity to choose different artistic forms, including chalk art, origami and Greek-style pottery.

“It’s been really good for us, there’s a lot of kid’s stuff and ice cream for him to cool off,” said Diamond Escalera, referring to her son, Edgar, who was finishing off an orange popsicle. “All the art has been great.”

The festival will conclude for the year on Sunday, which will begin at 10 a.m. and wrap up at 6 p.m.