Central PA Festival of Arts

Founded by the State College Chamber of Commerce and Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture, the Festival attracts about 125,000 visitors each summer. The Festival features the nationally recognized Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition, a juried gallery exhibition, Children and Youth Day, the Downtown State College Italian Street Painting Festival, educational opportunities, music, dance and theatrical performances in a variety of outdoor and indoor venues.

The Arts Festival commences with Children and Youth Day which features programs and events designed especially for the young and young at heart. From 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. the Children & Youth Sidewalk Sale will be held on South Allen Street. More than 250 young Central Pennsylvania artists are expected to showcase their original works.

On Thursday at 10:00 a.m. the award winning Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition will open. Sidewalk Sale hours are 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and noon to 5:00 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 five jurors will award over $17,500 in prize money to winning exhibitors during a ceremony at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 11, at the Allen Street Stage.

The Downtown State College Italian Street Painting Festival honors the 16th century Italian tradition of using special chalks to paint on the street. Look for the Italian Street Painting Festival on the 100 block of Hiester Street in downtown State College. A variety of local visual artists will create 6-foot by 4-foot paintings. For a $5 fee, Young Artists Alley gives children the opportunity to create a 14”x 14” square street painting.

The sixth annual BookFestPa will take place  from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Schlow Centre Region Library and the library’s BookFest tent in the library’s parking lot. This year’s featured authors include Collin Colsher, Jay Hosler, and Joel Priddy. There will be an additional ten authors in the BookFest tent. For more information go to bookfestpa.org.

This year, the Festival presents music by artists of international, national, and regional stature on three outdoor stages and at four indoor venues. In addition, performers at two plazas on the Sidewalk Sale route make shopping a more melodic experience. A full list of performers, along with the dates and times of the performances can be found on the festival’s website.

While most performances are free, some require a festival button. Buttons cost $10.00 for adults and are free for children ages twelve and under. They are good for the entire festival, and grant admission on a space available basis to all indoor events. Buttons are available at each performance venue, at many locations on the Festival route, in downtown State College stores, and online at arts-festival.com.

The Nittany Valley Running Club’s 40th annual 10K 5K & 10 mile run will take place Sunday at 8:15 a.m. The Kids’ Fun Run will start at 11 a.m., the races are runs of a quarter mile through a half mile for kids ages 12 and under.