People streaming into a roped-off city park, perusing rows of white canvas tents, buying crafts and decorations for the person, the home and the garden -- this is an "art fair."

And this is not what people will experience Saturday at the Independent Music + Art Festival at the Harrison Center -- an annual, free event that this year boasts performances by 18 local bands, along with an art sale by 20 artists, a gallery show featuring three new faces, a public art project and food and drink vendors aplenty.

"We wanted this venue to be accessible for our artists," said Joanna Taft, the center's executive director, "and our artists are not vending art-fair artists."

As a result, you can plan on perusing works set up on rugs on the ground, card tables or makeshift desks dragged out of the Harrison Center into the courtyard.

"You'll see it all," said Taft. "We're just grittier, and we love that. It's $25 to have a booth here."

The festival will also feature new outdoor work by graphic designer Matt Hale. Taft said that every year, the festival seems to get rained on, so Hale developed the exterior walls of the gallery into a weather-resistant public art project.

"But we didn't want to be just hanging banners," Taft said. "That's boring."

So Hale developed a cross between informational signage and art, constructing three thought balloons that describe the three architectural styles of the Harrison building, from the 1902 sanctuary, to the 1920s-style gymnasium, to the 1960s international-style bunker building.

Independent Music + Art Festival

When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Harrison Center for the Arts, 1505 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis.

Cost: Free.

Info: Call (317) 396-3886 or visit www.harrisoncenter.org.