The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts is back after a two-year hiatus | Catch My Job

State College, Pa. — After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 56th annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts returns as an in-person event on the streets of downtown State College and Penn State’s University Park campus. From Wednesday, July 13, to Sunday, July 17.

For more information and to see a full schedule of festival performances and activities, visit arts-festival.com.

Founded by the State College Chamber of Commerce and Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture, the festival attracts approximately 125,000 visitors each summer and features nationally recognized sidewalk sales and exhibits, Children’s and Youth Day, street painting, educational opportunities, music, dance and a variety of outdoor activities. and theater performances in indoor venues.

The festivities will kick off with Children and Youth Day sponsored by Penn State Health on Wednesday, July 13, which will feature programs and events designed especially for the young and young at heart. A children’s and youth sidewalk sale sponsored by Penn State Federal Credit Union will be held on South Allen Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. More than 250 young artists are expected to exhibit their original works.

Additional Children and Youth Day activities include free arts and crafts activities, youth-friendly musical and dance performances on Penn State’s Old Main Lawn and State College’s Sidney Friedman Park, and will culminate with the 2022 Center Daily Times Children and Youth Day Grand Parade. . The procession will begin at 4pm on the Old Main Lawn and travel through downtown State College as it makes its way to Sidney Friedman Park.

Another festival highlight includes award-winning sidewalk sales and exhibits. Sidewalk sale hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The works of more than 300 exhibitors comprise one of the nation’s best juried fine art and craft shows. A panel of four judges will award more than $17,500 in prize money to winning exhibitors during a ceremony on Saturday, July 16 at 9 a.m. on the Allen Street Stage.

Also planned is the 2022 Street Painting Exhibition, which will recognize the cross-border popularity of street painting between Italy, England and Germany. A variety of local visual artists will create 6-foot by 4-foot paintings on Foster Avenue at South Allen Street. For a $5 fee, Young Artist Alley offers children the opportunity to create a 14-inch by 14-inch square street painting. Painting ends at 8 pm Thursday through Saturday and 4 pm Sunday, weather permitting.

Although most performances are free, some require a festival wristband. Wristbands are $15 for adults and free for children 12 and under. They are good for the entire festival and allow admission to select indoor events on a space-available basis. Wristbands are available at each performance venue, at many locations along the festival route and at downtown State College stores.

Visitors are encouraged to use Penn State’s West Parking Deck on White Course Drive near the Westgate Building and use the free bus service to and from the festival. Parking rates are $1 per hour for the first two hours and $10 between two and 10 hours; Cash and credit cards accepted. Free bus service will be available from the west parking deck at the festival center at the corner of College Avenue and Allen Street.

Click here for festival-related parking, traffic and transit impacts on the University Park campus.

The festival is still seeking volunteers to work next week’s event. To volunteer, visit the festival website or email the festival office at [email protected].