5 Fun Festivals Celebrating Culture & The Arts

In order to make the arts more accessible and fun, many cities have organized multi-day festivals that showcase local artists and performers and feature unique activities for visitors of all ages. This list, presented in no particular order, looks at several events that showcase art and culture.

Kicking off our list at #1 is The Glimmerglass Festival, which is run by a non-profit opera company dedicated to producing new productions each summer. The company organizes several operas as well as works of American musical theater each year. These productions are supplemented by special performances, cabarets, concerts, lectures, and symposiums.

Located in Cooperstown, New York, the company runs a Young Artists Program, which provides training and performance experience for singers at the beginning of their professional careers. This program accepts opera singers, musical theater performers, accompanists, and stage directors.

Next up, at #2, we have the Britt Music and Arts Festival. Located in the historic 1850s gold rush town of Jacksonville, Oregon, Britt produces dozens of summer concerts each year featuring artists in classical, jazz, blues, folk, bluegrass, world, pop, and country music.

Its performance venue is a naturally formed amphitheater set among ponderosa pines and native madrones on the hillside estate of 19th-century photographer Peter Britt. Throughout the calendar year, the group provides music education and listening experiences to kids.

Coming in at #3 is the Scottsdale Arts Festival, a three-day-long celebration in the eponymous Arizona city. The event features hundreds of artists from throughout the United States and Canada, live music and entertainment on two stages, and food trucks.

The event also features creative activities for kids at its Community Art Studio family area as well as free admission to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. The festival has won awards from the International Festivals and Events Association for its programming, marketing, and more.

The #4 entry is Artisphere. Its mission is to create a nationally recognized fine arts festival that enhances the quality of life and economic vitality in South Carolina. A key component of its programming is educational collaborations that reach a diverse age range from young children to young adults and budding arts professionals.

The Kidsphere exhibition pairs students from South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities with festival children to create free crafts. Clemson University’s STEAM Exhibit and the University of South Carolina’s Art of Healthy Living Exhibit aim to instruct young festival-goers in science, technology, health sciences, and more.

To close our list at #5, we have the Lakeshore Art Festival, located in Muskegon, Michigan. The event's mission is to create a vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable event showcasing the region. It features a juried art show, a craft fair, a food market, and more.

The festival highlights several street performances, including acrobatics, balloon making, dancing, juggling, magic, and more. At the Children's Lane exhibit, there are several interactive activities for kids that aim to educate, entertain, and inspire creativity.