Kingsport Arts Festival happening this weekend
The two-day event will showcase activities and demonstrations for the entire family
The Kingsport Arts Festival is happening this weekend (April 19-20) in the vicinity of Market and Shelby in downtown Kingsport. This new festival aims to engage the entire community in the arts while encouraging folks to join in the creative activities themselves.
The two-day festival kicks off on April 19 from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a “Light up the Night” parade with giant puppets, paper lanterns and local digital artists’ work projected onto downtown buildings.
Then on April 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the festival continues with a full day of family-friendly activities, including an iron pour, glass blowing demonstrations, Raku firing, tie-dye making, an art gallery crawl and two free Sculpture Walk tours.
Buskers will be performing along Market and Shelby streets during the festival on April 20, with fine craft vendors on hand and demonstrations by TN Craft. Suzuki Talent Education of Appalachia and the Kingsport Ballet will be performing, and children’s activities will be held throughout the day at Impressions Fine Art Gallery (246 Broad Street).
“We wanted to bring a different type of arts festival to downtown Kingsport this year, one that showcases creative techniques not typically found at other festivals,” said Kristie Leonard, special events and cultural arts manager. “We believe people will come away excited by what they saw demonstrated.”
The Kingsport Arts Festival is hosted by Kingsport Cultural Arts in partnership with Engage Kingsport. For more information about the festival or to volunteer during the event, please visit www.artskingsport.org. This project is funded under a Grant Contract with the State of Tennessee, Tennessee Arts Commission.