This weekend head to the 48th Annual Fall Tempe Festival of the Arts presenting art, edibles and entertainment in Downtown Tempe!
The Tempe Festival of the Arts focuses on showcasing exceptional visual art and its artists in a spectacular 3-day event taking place December 2nd through December 4th, 2016. Admission to the festival is Free and open daily from 10am to 5:30pm offering visitors the opportunity to explore wonderful Mill Avenue from 3rd Street to University. Since its inception, the Tempe Festival of the Arts has consistently been ranked in the Top 100 Classic & Contemporary Craft Shows in the nation and they are expecting nearly 225,000 visitors this year! Highlighting a diverse and eclectic array of artists working in 16 different visual arts categories including ceramics, jewelry, photography, wearable art, and wood just to name a few.
Mill Avenue will be lined with about 300 artist booths selected by jury, filled with unique, and hand-made artwork that offer visitors a wonderful opportunity to meet the artists and shop an eclectic collection of works. A new addition to the festival this year is Sixth + Mill Makers, which offers a special curated selection of Phoenix-made goods selected by our curators, Andrew and Sam of Standard Wax. The purpose of the Sixth + Mill Makers is to showcase “the incredible array of talent present in our city and the growing entrepreneurial spirit in the Phoenix area, as well as offering DIY artisanal goods, a lounge and a "make & take" station.
The Fall Festival features delightful live entertainment throughout the event along with street performers, food and beverage vendors, sponsor exhibits, and entertainment booths are set up for the amusement of Festival visitors. Along the streets as well as three different stages will highlight a variety of live music including blues, jazz and bluegrass from a selection of acclaimed musicians and interactive performances, such as Arizona Bluegrass Jam, Arizona World Music, Bob Culbertson, Inka Gold, Nancy Kartoon, Elvis Before Noon, Jenny Jarnagin, Rifkin, The Groove Merchants, The Sugar Thieves, Walt Richardson and others.
There will be 3 Beer and Wine Gardens located throughout the festival showcasing local beers and wines. Four Peaks presents the Amphitheatre Stage Beer & Wine Garden located at Hayden Square Amphitheatre, the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant presents the 5th Street Stage Beer & Wine Garden located at 4th Street west of Mill Avenue, and lastly Pedal Haus Brewery sponsored the Centerpoint Stage Beer & Wine Garden at 7th Street, West of Mill Avenue. Don’t miss the dedicated and popular Food Truck Alley giving visitors a wonderful selection of gourmet and food fair finds!
The festival features with a slew of kid and family‐friendly activities including art‐making stations along Kids Block, including activations with Build A Racecar, Childsplay Theatre, Creative Reuse Arizona, Children's Museum of Phoenix, Girls Rock!, i.d.e.a Museum, Phoenix Youth Circus and more. Plus don’t miss Kidz Row, where kids can see works by their peers and do some projects of their own. Also be sure to stop by the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center and Brickyard Gallery, located at the Brickyard on Mill, which features an interesting gallery space and open storage combination handled by the Ceramics Research Center with a diverse collection of 3,500 ceramic pieces at any one time.
For complete details about this weekend’s Fall Tempe Festival of the Arts visit them online at http://www.tempefestivalofthearts.com/ and don’t forget to share your photos throughout the festival! *All images courtesy and copyright of Tempe Festival of the Arts.
