STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 56th annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts returns to the streets of downtown State College and Penn State’s University Park campus as an in-person event from Wednesday, July 13, through Sunday, July 17.
For more information and to see the 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 the nationally recognized Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition, Children and Youth Day, street painting, educational opportunities, music, dance and theatrical performances in a variety of outdoor and indoor venues.
The festival will commence 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. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the Children and Youth Sidewalk Sale, sponsored by Penn State Federal Credit Union, will be held on South Allen Street. More than 250 young artists are expected to showcase their original works.
Additional Children and Youth Day activities include free arts and crafts activities on Penn State’s Old Main Lawn and in State College’s Sidney Friedman Park, musical and dance performances tailored to the young, and will conclude with the 2022 Centre Daily Times Children and Youth Day Grand Procession. The procession will begin at 4 p.m. on Old Main Lawn and travel through downtown State College as it makes its way to Sidney Friedman Park.
Another festival highlight includes the award-winning Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition. Sidewalk Sale hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 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 jurors will award more than $17,500 in prize money to winning exhibitors during a ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 16, at the Allen Street Stage.
Also planned is the 2022 Street Painting Exhibition, which will recognize the cross-border popularity of street painting among 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 Artists Alley gives children the opportunity to create a 14-inch by 14-inch square street painting. Painting ends at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday, weather permitting.
While most performances are free, some require a festival wristband. Wristbands are $15 for adults and are free for children ages 12 and younger. They are good for the entire festival and grant admission on a space-available basis to select indoor events. Wristbands are available at each performance venue, at many locations on the festival route, and in 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 free bus service to get to and from the festival. Parking rates are $1 per hour for the first two hours and $10 for between two and 10 hours; cash and credit cards accepted. Free bus service will be available from the West Parking Deck to the center of the festival 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 at next week’s event. To volunteer, visit the festival website or email the festival office at office@arts-festival.com.