May 21
Marion, Iowa (Cedar Rapids)
50 Artists
Deadline: January 19
Application Fee: $25; Booth Fee: $225
ONE DAY.
FIFTY ARTISTS.
TEN THOUSAND ADMIRERS.
AN ALARMINGLY SMALL CITY BLOCK.
Greetings from the Marion Arts Festival, in Marion, Iowa! (East Central Iowa). Named by ArtFairCalendar.com as among "America's Best Art Fairs" in 2013 and 2014, the MAF presents 50 artists, offering both fine art and fine craft to an audience of 10,000.
THERE ARE NO BANDS, THERE IS NO BEER.
THE MAF IS ABOUT THE ART.
Marion is a "vintage uptown" type of community, and a part of the Cedar Rapids metro area. Our show is one-day, intimate and purposeful, with the mission to be an event through which you will thrive. (Here, we're obligated to insert that we're volunteer-driven, kind of hokey and maybe more than a little mom-and-pop ... in good ways, mostly.) No beer, no bands -- just art.(However, we do cop to good falafel.)
New this year:
The 2016 Marion Arts Festival is NOT the same weekend as Belleville, Illinois' Art on the Square!
They follow the moon! We follow the calendar!
This year, the twain do not meet!
Marketing:
We work year around, writing grants and securing business and media sponsors, ultimately spending over 2/3 of our budget on getting your customers to the park. Television, cable, newspapers, radio (public and commercial), web advertising, posters, billboards (static and digital), social media, features in state-wide arts tabloids, online event calendars, and a 12-page festival program distributed to 80,000 eastern Iowa households, as a special section of the Sunday-before-the-festival Cedar Rapids Gazette.
What "they" say about us:
"Fantastically run [...] major fine artists [...] wonderful extra art related events. No music. No beer. It's awesome."
"This is a gem of a show in an unlikely place. The show [...] works hard to make this a worthy arts festival and ensures that each artist is "one-of-a-kind" ... The show generated record sales for me, and my one-day sales here topped my previous single-day sales record by a very wide margin. All in all, this is an easy and profitable show to do."
"My best show of the year! A niche market that never disappoints."
Thank you for your interest, and for the work you do ... we count ourselves lucky that you're out there. Please don't hesitate to contact us for information and encouragement!
Want more? Here is our blog:
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