Arts Alive announces their third annual Elevate the Arts Fest. This outdoor community arts festival and fundraiser will take place on Sunday, August 11th from 11AM-4PM. For the second year, the festival will be held rain or shine in the Commercial Street lot on Gilbo Ave. in downtown Keene. Because the 2023 festival was such a success, Elevate the Arts Fest has expanded its run time and its footprint from the prior year.
Arts Alive aims to ignite creativity, spark connections, and serve individuals who inspire others to dream, create, and engage. As such, local artists are encouraged to show and sell work at the artisan market hosted by 17ROX Artist Studios. Established and emerging performers alike can shine at the open mic hosted by local band Touch the Ocean.
Crowd watches festival open mic. Photo by Jim Murphy.
Elevate the Arts Fest represents Arts Alive’s mission of increasing access to art, culture, and creativity as a human right. Admission to the festival, do-it-yourself creative activities, and performances are free, enabling attendees to direct their resources towards supporting local artists at the artisan market. Taking full advantage of this summer fun event to bring artistic excellence to the community, Arts Alive brings in professional and diverse guest artists to perform in addition to the open mic for local performers. As an all-ages, community event, the festival supports families in offering child-friendly activities such as face painting, collaborative mural painting, and large lawn games. Food trucks will be present with a variety of offerings from beloved local vendors.
Artist market tents at the Elevate the Arts Festival. Photo by Jim Murphy.
The festival will close with a raffle fundraiser. Attendees can enter to win large and small prizes from the artisan market vendors and generous local businesses and organizations who support the arts. Tickets will be available for purchase throughout the event.
Community members are welcome to get involved by volunteering, selling work at the artist/artisan market, or participating in the open mic. Volunteer roles include but are not limited to: setting up tents, barricades or games, selling raffle tickets, assisting musicians or demo artists with setup, welcoming and providing information for visitors, breaking down the event and cleaning up. Those interested can find more information and sign up at monadnockartsalive.org/elevate-the-arts-fest.
Arts Alive is grateful to the 2024 event’s sponsors: The Putnam Foundation, Savings Bank of Walpole, Mascoma Bank, Hamblet Electric, Fairfield’s Auto Group, 17ROX Artist Studios and The Production House.
