MADISON, Wis. -- Art Fair on the Square was celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend.

What started as a small sidewalk art show has grown into an event that attracts thousands each year to Madison's Capitol Square. But organizers said that there are concerns this year about how the current economic climate is impacting the event and the exhibiting artists, WISC-TV reported.

Art Fair on the Square is an important event for the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMOCA) as a quarter of its annual budget comes from money raised over the weekend.

Are art enthusiasts buying this year? Depends on who you talk to, WISC-TV reported.

Through the weekend, between 100,000 and 200,000 people are estimated to visit the Capitol Square. Organizers believe that attendance could see a boost thanks to people staying close to home this summer.

"That really could be helping us, with gas prices and people taking those 'stay-cations' everyone keeps talking about,” said Nicole Allen, Director of Development for MMOCA.

Nancy Pizarro of Circa Ceramics in Chicago is selling at Art Fair on the Square for the first time, and says when it comes to art, the market is still strong.

“We've actually seen more consistent crowds and sales at a lot of these art festivals,” said Pizarro.

Of course, there's Art Fair on the Square, and Art Fair off the Square, a completely different art fair featuring all Wisconsin artists.

Bob Krauski, of Krauski Art Glass, has done Art Fair off the Square for 15 years, and he says there are fewer people buying this year. “Sometimes you’re new and popular, so you have a great year, sometimes not. It’s hard to say. Generally for us, yes, there's been a slow-down of sales at the show,” said Krauski.

The positive news is that many art enthusiasts wait until they've seen everything before going back on Sunday to make their purchases.

“I think a lot of people do a lot of looking first and then go back and buy, so it's probably too early to tell. We'll do a survey after the art fair to find out from the artists to see how they did compared to other years,” said Allen.

Until those surveys return, event officials really won't know if sales this summer were good.

As for attendance, because there's no gate, it's really just an estimate.

Still the crowds would indicate that at least getting people to the fair is no problem.