The 59th annual Halifax Art Festival will be Nov. 6-7 with a new layout.
The City of Daytona Beach has redesigned Beach Street, reducing it from four lanes to two lanes. The median of palm trees remains. For more space, the festival will be including City Island as well as Beach Street with Magnolia Avenue providing artists and shoppers with a centralized new layout.
The festival is the second oldest continuously presented one in Florida. It features a unique blend of fine arts, crafts, music, food and fun. Admission and parking are free.
The festival features juried local, regional and national original works of art from more than 225 artists, offering affordable art work for the established as well as the beginning collector.
The festival features two sections. Competitive Fine Arts and Crafts is juried and judged and eligible for prize and patron money. Non-Competitive Arts are juried, but not eligible for awards. Art works in both sections are all original.
The Student Art Exhibit and Competition features art students from kindergarten to 12th grade from the Volusia County school system as well as area private schools. The student art will be at Daytona Beach Regional Library at 105 Jackie Robinson Parkway during festival hours.
After the Sunday awards ceremony, the winning art will be displayed at the Museum of Arts & Sciences, 352 S. Nova Road, Daytona Beach, for one week.
The festival also supports children, pre-kindergarten to 5 years old. Little Van Gogh To Go kits are at the information booth. The kit can be used at home to create a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Parents may take a photo of their child’s artwork to post on Facebook, tagging @moasdaytona and using the hashtag #littlevangogh so the artwork can be featured on the museum’s social media.
Live music will be featured both Saturday and Sunday. Plenty of seating will be available on Beach Street for snacking and on City Island for music and snacks. Shoppers may choose from festival food or the many bistros and restaurants along Beach Street.
Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7.
The festival is presented and produced by the Guild of the Museum of Arts & Sciences, and is the signature fundraiser for the museum and also benefits the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art and the Charles and Linda Williams Children’s Museum. For more information, visit halifaxartfestival.org.
