America's Best Art Fairs - The Top 50

8th Best Art Fair Survey Winners - 2019

The votes are in. Thousands of you nationwide voted these art festivals and fine craft shows as their "must attend" art fairs year in and year out.

[Please Note: Due to the pandemic, these awards are from 2019. Watch for the return of the Best Art Fairs Awards in 2023!]

52 weeks of art fairs! Use our calendar list to plan your travels from January to December:

 

Beaux Arts Festival of Art, Coral Gables, FL - Jan. 14 & 15, 2023

ArtFest Fort Myers, Fort Myers, FL - Feb. 4 & 5, 2023

 

Mount Dora Arts Festival, Mount Dora, FL - Feb. 5 & 6, 2023

Coconut Grove Arts Festival, Miami, FL - Feb. 18-21, 2023

Artigras, Jupiter, FL - Feb. 19 & 20, 2022

Naples National Art Show, Naples, FL - Feb. 25 & 26, 2023

 

American Craft Show, Baltimore, MD - March. 3-5, 2023

Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, Winter Park, FL - March 17-19, 2023

 

Old Florida Celebration of the Arts, Cedar Key, FL - April 1 & 2, 2023

Delray Affair, Delray Beach, FL - April 14-16, 2023

The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival, The Woodlands, TX - April 14-16, 2023

Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival, Fort Worth, TX - April 20-23, 2023

4 Bridges Arts Festival, Chattanooga, TN - April 22 & 23, 2023

 

Smithsonian Craft + Design Show, Washington, D.C. - May 3-7, 2023 

Artisphere, Greenville, SC - May 12-14, 2023

Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Reston, VA - May 20 & 21, 2023

 

Summerfair, Cincinnati, OH - June 2-4, 2023

Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show, Philadelphia, PA - June 2-4, 2023

57th Street Art Fair, Chicago, IL - June 3 & 4, 2023

Columbus Arts Festival, Columbus, OH - June 9-11, 2023

Old Town Art Fair, Chicago, IL - June 10 & 11, 2023

Lakefront Festival of Art, Milwaukee, WI - June 16-18, 2023

Gold Coast Art Fair, Chicago, IL - June 17 & 18, 2023

Des Moines Art Festival, Des Moines, IA - June 23-25, 2023

Boston Mills Artfest, Peninsula, OH - June 23-25 & June 30-July 2, 2023

Lakeshore Art Festival, Muskegon, MI - June 24 & 25, 2023

 

Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO - July 1-3, 2023

Festival of the Arts/Pageant of the Masters, Laguna Beach, CA - July 5 - Sept. 1, 2023

Art Fair on the Square, Madison, WI - July 8 & 9, 2023

Wickford Art Festival, North Kingstown, RI - July 8 & 9, 2023

Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, State College, PA - July 13-16, 2023

Ann Arbor Original Street Art Fair, Michigan - July 20-22, 2023

Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, Asheville, NC - July 20-23, 2023

Geneva Arts Fair, Geneva, IL - July 29 & 30 2023

 

Crested Butte Arts Festival, Crested Butte, CO - Aug.4-6, 2023

Kimball Arts Festival, Park City, UT - Aug. 4-6, 2023

Port Clinton Art Festival, Highland Park, IL - Aug. 26 & 27, 2023

 

Long's Park Art Festival, Lancaster, PA - Sept. 1-3, 2023

Arts, Beats & Eats, Royal Oak, MI - Sept. 1-4, 2022

Art in the Pearl, Portland, OR - Sept. 2-4, 2023

Art & Apples Festival, Rochester, MI - Sept. 8-10, 2023

Saint Louis Art Fair, St. Louis, MO - Sept. 8-10, 2023

ArtPrize, Grand Rapids, MI - Sept. 14 - Oct. 1, 2023

Park Forest Art Fair, Park Forest, IL - Sept. 16 & 17, 2023

Funky Ferndale Art Fair, Ferndale, MI - Sept. 22-24, 2023

Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, MO - Sept. 22-24, 2023

Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair, Peoria, IL - Sept. 23 & 24, 2023

American Craft Exposition, Glencoe, IL - Sept. 29 - October 1, TBA

St. James Court Art Show, Louisville, KY - Oct. 6-8, 2023

 

Bethesda Row Arts Festival, Bethesda, MD - Oct. 14 & 15, 2023

 

SOFA, Chicago, IL - Nov. 3-6, TBA

Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA - Nov. 11-13, TBA

One of a Kind Show, Chicago - Dec. 7-10, 2023

Art Basel, Miami Beach, FL - December 8-10, 2023

 

Addendum: a peek at the survey ...

Our Best Art Fair Awards survey process began in October. The survey was shared on our websites, in our email newsletters (to nearly 60,000 subscribers) and Facebook pages. Some art fairs shared the survey with their mailing lists and put it on their Facebook pages, dramatically increasing the number of votes they received.

Participation was high with close to 1,000 nominations received online. We received hundreds of nominations for shows throughout the country and completed surveys from nearly 2000 voters.

Voting was particularly high throughout the Midwest and across the South.

Some of the survey questions:

(If you'd like more details from our Survey to improve your Art Fair, email connie @ artfaircalendar.com for copies and art fair consulting services.)

1. Please choose up to five of your favorite art fairs and craft shows.
   
   
2. Which art fair is the best in the country?
   
   
3. How do you determine what is a best art fair? There were 8 choices, as you can see the respondents overwhelmingly chose "quality of art" as the determiner.
   
   
   
4. What is the best Northeast show? See the best five here.
   
   
5. What is the best Midwest show? See the best five here.
   
   
6. What is the best Southern show? See the best five here.
   
   
7. What is the best Western show? See the best five here.
   
   
8. What is the best big city show? (view results here)
   
   
9. What smaller show is the most fun and your favorite? (view results here)
   
   
10. Why do you attend art and craft fairs? Rate the following from "best reason" to "least likely."
    
    
11. How do you find out about art fairs and craft shows?
    
    (Note: This is useful information when considering marketing, as we always knew, "word of mouth" is still the best way to get the word out, and yet all marketing seems to be helpful. This is not very helpful if you are hoping to save some money by reallocating funds.)
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. Do you buy art? How often?
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. What shows do you no longer attend and why? We received 142 responses with reasons such as "the quality is no longer there and it's impossible to park," "Too crowded and lots of junk- not considered "art"," "too large not easy to get around."
    
    
14. Over the last five years how many art fairs have you attended?
    
15. How far have you traveled to attend an art fair?
    
    
16. Do you have any suggestions for art festival organizers on how to improve their events?
    
    
17. Help us understand who you are:
    
    Average age:  59.27
    Gender: 72.3% Female; 27.7% Male
    Education level completed:
    high school - 5%; some college - 7 %; college - 42%; post grad, PhD, Law, Masters, etc. - 46%
    Income level: $127,843 - average
    Other: "middle income", "well paid", "retired", "high", "good enough", "not enough", "unemployed", "not as high as I would like", "very comfortable", "LOTS", "above average", "mucho"
    
    

We have detailed answers to all those questions and many more such as:

• Do you buy art and where?
• How do you find out about art fairs?
• Who are your favorite artists?
• Do you have any suggestions for art festival organizers on how to improve their events?
• What is your favorite art fair website?

We had several thousand replies to this 7th annual survey.

Amazingly, 87.5% of the respondents completed the entire survey and followed all the prompts! No "cat herding" necessary.

Many thanks to everyone who took the Best Art Fair Awards survey.

We have gathered a lot of helpful information about the art fair business that we can share with your art fair.

Want to put these findings to work to improve your art event?

Connie Mettler, the Publisher of ArtFairCalendar.com and this Best Art Fairs survey, has much more art fair industry expertise to help improve your art fair. Email her about art fair consulting services at connie (at) artfaircalendar.com.

Comments

[Melissa Susan Weekley]

Looking at the pie graph, the number of visits to Art events, I am impressed with the numbers. I can understand how they can add up, if you are from a dense state like Maryland, for example, there are many art events happening on a daily basis.

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Jan, Thanks for noticing the dates for that show and alerting us so that we could correct it. I have made the corrections. Thanks so much.

[Jay Mulberry]

Hello,
The date of the Hyde Park Art Fair is on June 6th and 7th, which is the first weekend in June 2020. You have it listed as June 1st and 2nd. Please correct this asap!!

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Martha, Anyone is able to vote for their favorite art shows for this list, including Artists.What makes a show a favorite or the best show is up to the individual voter. Each year we try very hard to get the word out to everyone to please vote for their favorite shows. If you have not voted for your favorite art shows please sign up for our newsletter emails. Several emails go out to those on our mailing list let them know that it is time to vote for their favorite shows. Keep in mind that if a show did not make our top 10 that means it did not receive enough votes. We have held this Top Ten Survey for several years now. It is well known. We make sure to get the word out several times in our email newsletters. We feel our survey is pretty accurate. Please look for our survey next fall.

[Martha Hayden]

I have done shows for more than 40 years. Some on the list are very questionable, and some of the criteria are also questionable. Who cares if a show is conveniently close to family? A ranking done by artists would be more helpful. We need to know if the show may be profitable.

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Richard, I am sorry but the type of Art Shows we are connected with here are just like the Ann Arbor Art Fair. The shows we list are also the type that want one artist selling their own work and not someone else's work. I don't know of any juried art show that sells the work of many people in one booth. Art patrons want to see and talk to the person that actually made the art work they are going to buy. Thanks for inquiring. Good Luck to you.

[Richard Freemantle]

Dear Art Fair Calendar.
Tintsaba can best be described as a collaborative of over 850 rural Swazi women. They are artists and producers of our core material, Agave fibre.
We produce some of the finest handwoven baskets as well as jewellery and Homeware. All our art and decorative pieces are 100% handmade, even our 925-silver range that incorporates basketry set in silver frames.
We have featured prominently at the IFAM, in Santa Fe, for the past 10 years.
Tintsaba celebrates 35 years in April 2020.
Please can you advise what art or craft fairs that you think will be suitable for us. two fair at Ann Arbor turned us down because they cater for individuals only.
Thank you very much, great platform you have created here. Richard

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Tim, Thanks for your comment. People just like you nominate shows to get them on our list. If you want the Cottonwood Arts Festival to make our top shows in the nation list then nominate it. Get art patrons that love the show to also nominate the Cottonwood show. Once a year we mail out emails to people who have subscribed to our email letting them know that we are asking for people to vote.

That is how shows get on our list.

[Tim Brayton]

Hmmm, Cottonwood Arts Festival, Richardson TX didn't make the list ??? Not sure why as it is a great show twice a year in a park setting.

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Mike, We have 2 reviews for a spring and a fall Boardwalk show in Virginia on our www.Callsforartists.com website. I don't know if that is the same show you are talking about. Take a look at our website and see if that is what you were looking for. You may also find reviews there for other shows that may interest you. Good luck

[Mike Dennis]

Any review of the boardwalk art show va. Beach va.

[Connie Mettler]

Jonathan, I have to agree with you about Lincoln Center. They didn't even return my phone call for the correct dates. Nonetheless, they got the votes. You know how that works ...

[Kathryn Anderson]

What happened to the shows in the Southwest? Arizona has some great shows during the winter.

[Jonathan Leon]

The Lincoln center?!?! Really?!?! I guess you haven't participated in a while. Maybe the 95th... Not more than that. Could be a great show but the organizers are the worse.. sitting on there laurels. No FB page, no Instagram... No publicity...

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Shreebigi, We only list the Art Show here. If you want to take part in an art show you must apply to the shows you would like to do. If you get into the show is up to the show organizer. WE don't have anything to do with that. We only list the shows on our calendar.
Good luck to you.

[Shreebigi chitrakar]

How do we take part in these arts events? How do we participate or apply for these events. I have a handicraft workshop,we deal regarding gold plated statues and colour statues.we have a page on facebook by d name Padmapani handicraft and art centre.our website is still being developed,very soon it will come live.Can the concern people guide me for this.

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Marcia, We have several really great shows for you to attend in Washington listed on our calendar. In fact, there are several yet to take place this year. To find Washington state shows click on the West Coast page in the Art Fair Calendar.
Hope you find some close to you.

[Marcia Rogers]

I live in the Pacific Northwest and would like recommendations on good art fairs in Washington State.

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Cindy, The votes have come in but everything has not yet been sorted out. I will have to ask about this. I'll try to post the answer.

Jacki

[Cindy]

Connie, I would be curious to know how many respondents were artists versus patrons and attendees. Do you have that data? Thanks!

[Brynn Kanikula]

Thank you for this honor! We are so excited to be a part of your selections!

Thank you for all you do for the arts,
Brynn K

Brynn Kanikula
Special Events | Marketing
Peoria Art Guild

[Bjorn Sjogren]

These shows and therefore also the organisers were the best. It would VERY HELPFUl to artists of all walks of life with a list of the 10 - 15 WORST organizers in the Nation. We, the artists are in the hands of the organizers. They stipulate rules and regulations and we have to obey. Unfortunately, there is no rules for the organizers. So, let's have it! A list with the ones talking and writing beautiful words and referring to their past involvement in well respected shows. But who cannot deliver on their own. Here are a couple of organizers which should be on that list: Paragon Art festivals,Lynette Wallace Productions,Howard Alan Events. Or is it like this that you only can write about the good things, but not the bad and calling a spade a spade...?? Bjorn Sjogren, Painter San Antonio, Texas

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Judy, I did not work on the 2013 Best Art Shows list. However, I do know that a lot of work went into collecting all the information required to put the list together. I don't know if the Plymouth Art in the Park was nominated or voted for. However, you are just in time to be a part of our 2014 vote for the Best Art Shows. Copy & paste the following link into your browser and let us know which shows you like: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/77J7H3F

[Judy Moffet]

Plymouth MI Art in the Park didn't make the list, I'm surprised. Plymouth is a great art fair drawing thousands every year. Was it close?

[Jacki Bils]

Hello Susan, Yes, the Penrod Arts Fair is a great show. The shows that did make our list were submitted by art patrons and artists all around the country. This list was an huge event with 100's and 100's of votes collected for shows all over the country. This absolutely was a People's Choice Award. After a substantial voting period, the votes were counted and the list was put together.

Of course, we know that a show does not have to be on the list to be an enjoyable and worthy show to attend.