SOUTH PORTLAND – Art in the Park, the signature event of the South Portland summer season, is upon us once again and this time 10-acre Mill Creek Park, still under renovation during last year’s show, is primed and ready to go for the 34th annual iteration, Saturday, Aug. 10.

The park’s $321,000 facelift improved pathways, rebuilt pond retaining walls, created “focus areas,” and established a community garden. At the same time, the volunteer group that raised money for a monument honoring current and former members of the U.S. armed services have continued their work, enhancing the original park space off Broadway, now known as Veterans Green, with memorial pavers and benches.

According to City Hall employee Mary Perry, who shoulders administrative duties for the annual show, the build out of the green, as celebrated as it is, has had one minor impact on the Art in the Park show. Artists are no longer able to park in that area, she said. In addition, some business in the Mill Creek area open for business Saturday are expected to be posted against art show parking, at least until they close up for the day.

“Hannaford has always been wonderful about the overflow that parks in their lot, but Mill Creek is a small area with quite a large crowd for the day,” said Perry. “We are trying to get the public and artists to realize they can park at Mahoney Middle School and at City Hall.”

Perry said the city will run a shuttle bus to and from the park from Mahoney.

“Otherwise, a lot of things are still the same that everyone has come to expect,” she said. “We’ve sold out again with 190 artists.”

This year’s Art in the Park show runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, with fine artists and photographers from across Maine and New England displaying their wares the length of the park from Ocean Street to Cottage Road. As always, works will be for sale, while artists vie for $3,550 to be doled out in 10 show prizes, including the $800 Judges’ Award for Best-in-Show.

In addition, the student art tent returns, featuring work from more than 300 students in grades K-12. Each year, three student works are selected for use in promotional materials, including the Art in the Park program, poster and T-shirt, the latter sponsored by Norway Savings Bank.

In the end, organizers say, Art in the Park is about more than just art. It’s a family event that offers plenty for youngsters to do, as well.

As always, a kids’ activity area, sponsored by Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution, will be open near the park’s Green Belt Trail from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. In addition to face painting, youngsters can undertake projects such as sand art, shell painting, marble painting and knapsack making under the supervision of show volunteers, allowing parents to peruse the paintings. From 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. youngsters can work off their excess energy in zumba classes led by instructors from On the Move Fitness.

For the third year, Town & Country Federal Credit Union is sponsoring an hour-long kids concert by popular children’s entertainer Rick Charette.

Meanwhile, uptempo guitarist Jim Gallant, said to rank “among some of the finest tunesmiths in the Northeast” by Good Times music magazine, will once again serenade event attendees near the new gazebo, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Food vendors for the event, located near the new public garden entrance to the park at the corner of Ocean Street and Broadway, include: The Rotary Club of South Portland Sunrise (formerly the Breakwater Daybreak Rotary Club), which will serve up hamburgers, hot dogs and bratwurst; CVC Catering, featuring pulled pork, wraps and whoopie pies; India Palace, offering authentic India cuisine, including samosa, pokora and curry dishes; Lobster on the roll with lobster and crab rolls; Friendly’s Ice Cream, available in a dish, on a cone, or as a float; Aztlan Taco Co., with authentic Mexican tacos of every description; and, Verbena’s, which creates its own specialty sandwiches and salads.

Located next to the food court is a new wellness area, where show patrons can get chair massages, reflexology and acupuncture treatments, and home and body items from employees of SOMA and Healthy Body Fit Mind.

Art in the Park will go on, barring what Perry describes as an “all-day rain event,” in which case organizers will make a second attempt on Sunday. Should the show need to be pushed back, notice will be posted at www.artintheparkmaine.com.

Patrons of last year’s Art in the Park event in South Portland peruse the student art tent. Each year the show exhibits works by students, selected and matted by local art teachers. Event judges award six $30 prizes to high school artists exhibited at the show. In lieu of individual awards for elementary and middle school students, Art in the Park gives a $50 award to each art teacher to help buy class supplies.This 20-inch-by-16-inch oil painting by South Portland artist Jack Riddle, entitled “Mill Creek at Noon,” is representative of both the 190 fine artists whose work will on display during the annual Art in the Park showcase, as well as the 10-acre public space where the event is held.One of the newer attractions in South Portland’s Mill Creek Park is this service monument honoring current and veteran members of the U.S. armed forces. As the area now known as Veterans Green has grown to more closely resemble the space envisioned, it is no longer available for parking during the annual Art in the Park event. Instead, the city will run a shuttle bus to and from the park from the lot at Mahoney Middle School.