October 21-22
Northport, Alabama
Presented By: Kentuck Art Center
285 Artists
Deadline: June 1
Application Fee: $35/$50; Booth Fee: Various
Artists set up in a beautiful natural setting surrounded by tall pines in Kentuck Park. The Kentuck Festival nurtures artistic expression by providing an opportunity for undiscovered and established artists to share and sell their work, to educate the public about the creative efforts of artists, perpetuate traditional crafts and folk art, and to add to the cultural climate and quality of life in the community, state and region.
Throughout the years many "undiscovered" artists who are now in textbooks, galleries, and museums have exhibited at Kentuck.
To this end, Kentuck strives to showcase work of exceptional quality and creativity by artists in a variety of areas: contemporary art and sculpture, contemporary craft, traditional/heritage craft, and folk/self-taught artists.
Marketing: Kentuck spends more than $30,000 marketing this event, including print, billboards, radio, local TV, and online
Artist amenities include:
- $7000 in awards.
- Booth sitters. Artists' hospitality tent. Artists' party Saturday night.
- Drive up unload/load. Overnight security.
- Flat booth rate (no commission). ATM and credit card processing on site.
- VIP program featuring pre-paid Kentuck Bucks that can only be used to purchase art at the Festival.
- Online catalog featuring 2017 artists.
A new jury panel every year. Jurors are selected from arts educators, museum curators, art business executives, collectors, and artists not applying to the Festival.
Apply: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=5410
More information: www.kentuck.org
Contact: Sherri Warner, swarner@kentuck.org, (205) 758-1257
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Find even more art fairs looking for artists: www.CallsforArtists.com
Comments
Changing dates will not only impact artists, but also patrons. People get used things happening at the same time and in the same place and count on it. The only show I know of that changes its dates around effectively is Mandarin Community Arts Festival in Jacksonville, FL since the show is always Easter weekend.
We did Kentuck twice and stayed in Motel 6 for a home game weekend. I think it was $120. The second time we stayed in a not so great La Quinta Inn for much less, but it wasn't a home game in 2012.
But prices in the South East don't hold a candle to what we are experiencing now in the great American West. We've never had problems getting hotels in the South East for $400 or less per week mostly. La Quinta Inn and Red Roof are usually where we would stay, and we even got away with only paying $80 per night in Hilton Head, SC at Red Roof. Well, we've just been accepted in Sedona Arts Festival in October, and hotels are OUTRAGEOUS. We're talking $150 for a couple of places, but then it goes up to $200 to $400 easy. SO we're staying 32 miles from the show in Flagstaff either at Motel 6 for $76 or La Quinta for $118.It'll cost $10 fuel each day for the drive and probably 45 minutes time each way.
This next weekend we're in Estes Park, and our hotel is $139 per night plus $10 pet fee. YIKES!
Thank you, Sherri, for adding this information and joining the conversation.
I love the idea of a home host program and know a few shows, very few, who do this. I'd love more details on how you got that going some time.
I think changing the festival dates each year to avoid the home football game would be quite a difficult task and would most likely cause more problems than needed. Carol and I just applied for the fall show and are hoping for a reasonable hotel lodging rate that will work. We have driven 60+ miles each way to participate in Jazz Fest a number of times and also driven the same distance for Three Rivers in Covington and Festival Acadiens in Lafayette. any much more than that to drive each day is reaching the limit. Carol is looking to the Bessemer hotels as Kendra has suggested. This much of a drive is worth it for such an enjoyable show if we are juried in.
We do offer a home host program -- believe me, we know that the home game is a problem! Just haven't managed to convince the SEC to change it :-) Please visit http://www.kentuck.org/the-festival/ or call our office at 205-758-1257 for more information. We've considered changing the date of the show when there is a home game - what do y'all think about that? We've been the third weekend in October so long we're afraid we'll mess with artist's schedules if we change from year to year...
Bessemer Al. is 45 min from the area thats usually where I stay when there's a home game. You can usually get a room around $100 to 120 a night. Also I know in past years the show has had a "host home" thing set up I have not used that program but several times I have been next to someone at the show who has.
Sleeping in my van might have worked 40 years ago but not now. These days I can sleep in a tent in the middle of the woods with a campfire going, listening to nature and wildlife
and love it...but parking lot camping is not appealing.
Okay, so much for my advice and my tentative plan to drive to Alabama to visit this show!
That was a joke about sleeping the van ... not my style either.
There is no way Carol and I are going to sleep in our van. We did try to reserve a room or suite at the same hotel after we did the show last year but the hotels are very much aware of when home games are and inflate the rates. Carol spent many hours online trying to find a hotel that didn't have such huge increases...but they all seem to do it.
I will not apply because of this
So ... what are you going to do? Sleep in the front seat of your truck?
One of the tricks we used in this kind of a situation was to reserve our hotel as we were leaving town at the place where we were staying for the next year, and then hope we got back in the show again, but we could always cancel.
Kentuck is a great festival and Carol & I really enjoy participating. Unfortunately when there is a home college footballl game during the same weeekend the hotels inflate their rates to the point of outrageous and unaffordable. This year there is a home game and when we tried to fins a hotel it was futile and I felt like the mouse
.