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Sausalito Art Festival Announces Hiatus for 2020

As a supporter of the Sausalito Art Festival, we want you to be among the first to know about the press release below, that was issued today.

As it states, the Festival will be paused in 2020 as the Sausalito Art Festival Foundation takes the time needed to plan a new iteration of the Festival in an effort to ensure its continued success. 

The decision to dedicate a year to planning was difficult but ultimately, we decided that we owed it to our community to thoroughly go through the process needed to prepare the Festival for its next phase of success. 

As we go through this planning process, we encourage you to reach out with ideas, recommendations, or other constructive thoughts. 

We look forward to welcoming you back to the Sausalito waterfront in 2021,

The Sausalito Art Festival Foundation


Press Release: The Sausalito Art Festival Foundation regrets to announce that it will pause production of its signature event, the Sausalito Art Festival, in 2020 due to the uncertain prospects for the familiar three-day Labor Day weekend event and the current challenges associated with its production. According to Foundation Chairman Wayne Kaleck, “we are taking a year to plan a new iteration of the Festival to meet a shifting arts and entertainment landscape.”
 
For 67 years, the Sausalito Art Festival has been recognized as one of America’s premier outdoor art festivals and is a winner of countless industry awards. Set on a waterfront location in Sausalito California, the Festival is attended annually by thousands of visitors and staffed by more than a thousand volunteers.
 
In spite of the event’s past success, explained Kaleck, recent years have seen unfavorable trends develop in the art fair industry, restrictions imposed on the Festival’s access to its traditional waterfront location, increasing competition for musical performers, and skyrocketing costs for security owing to events like the mass shooting at this year’s Gilroy Garlic Festival. “The Foundation believes that we owe it to our community of artists, musicians, vendors, volunteers and patrons, to take the time needed to grapple with the changing landscape and reimagine the Sausalito Art Festival to ensure its continued success,” added Kaleck.
 
The Sausalito Art Festival has historically been held over Labor Day Weekend. As a major regional event, planning for the Festival is a year-round process, and the Festival operation requires participation from dozens of city, county, federal and private organizations. “The Board of Trustees is evaluating a number of substantial changes to the Festival, and we believe it is in the best interest of everyone to take the time needed to thoroughly investigate the impact of these changes,” stated Kaleck. “That is why we are putting the Festival on ‘pause’ for next year.”
 
The Sausalito Art Festival is produced by the Sausalito Art Festival Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to support the arts for the community. Proceeds from the annual Sausalito Art Festival support Bay Area arts and community non-profits through grants, artist awards, scholarships and donations to special projects. As a part of that effort, the Foundation also announced today the opening of its annual Leonard Kaprielian grant application process benefiting non-profit 501(c)(3) projects in Sausalito.
 
For more information, contact: info@sausalitoartfestival.org