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06/13/2024 01:23 PMThe third annual Clinton Arts Festival will be held Saturday, June 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the lawn in front of Big Y on Route 81. The free event will feature over 50 local and international artists as well as local food trucks. A rain date is set for June 23.
The event is organized by the Clinton Arts Council (CAC) and presenting sponsor Madison Furniture Barn.
“I think it’s a pretty well-rounded event now. We have a really diverse group of artists,” CAC President Steve Van Ness said.
According to Van Ness, the 2024 iteration will be even bigger than last year’s festival. The event will include close to 60 artists showcasing a wide variety of mediums. There will be activities for children, live mural demonstrations, live music, chainsaw art, as well as a couple from Afghanistan showcasing visual arts. For refreshments Tapville Social will have a beer and wine truck and food trucks will be on site as well.
“Also new this year as a fun thing, the Joel School elementary Kids Art Exhibit will be displayed on the walls outside Big Y and Madison Furniture barn,” Van Ness added as an example of a new wrinkle for 2024.
Additionally, attendees will have the chance to help those in need.
“Big Y is going to have a tent and do a Family Helping Families food drive for people to drop off nonperishable food items at the tent at the festival lawn and they will be entered to win a Big Y gift card,” Van Ness said.
The event has returned each year after a successful inaugural event in 2022. The last two years the event has been held at the Pierson School lawn, but with a potential sale of that property currently in the works the festival needed a new home. Van Ness said Greylock Property Group, the developers of the Big Y Plaza, were eager to step up.
“They really have supported this from the beginning and I think it’s a great new spot for this, it’s a high visibility high traffic area right by Big Y, the library, and the outlets,” Van Ness said.
In the two years since the first festival was held, Van Ness said he’s seen tremendous growth year over year. Whereas in 2022 there were 18 vendors, last year there was 40 and this year Van Ness said there will be about 60 different booths.
“I talked to every single artist last year and they said they were coming back. It’s really gotten to a place now where it’s been so successful that people are eager to come back,” Van Ness said.
For more information about the Clinton Arts Festival, visit www.experienceclinton.com.