4 Bridges Arts Festival 2026

Association for Visual Arts (AVA) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will present the 26th Annual 4 Bridges Arts Festival (4BAF) April 17-19, 2026. A highly anticipated and culturally prominent event, 4BAF is a juried show that offers awards totaling $15,000. Bolstered by 25 years of unparalleled community support, the festival has matured into a firmly established conduit for connecting visual artists with an audience of avid and knowledgeable art buyers. This legacy of success is the foundation on which 4BAF has become a nationally significant arts experience as well as an annual destination for both seasoned and beginning art collectors.

The event spans three days at First Horizon Pavilion, beginning with artist set-up Friday morning and a festive Preview Party on Friday evening, which gives donors, sponsors, and ticket-buyers early access to buy from the festival artists. The festival is open to the public for 7-8 hours on Saturday and Sunday. The festival includes local live music acts outside the main pavilion, a food truck court, and children's activities. The site is a sprawling open-air pavilion created from the shell of a former industrial foundry, with a roof but open air on the sides, providing both protection from rain and sun and great airflow, with amenities like indoor restrooms and close parking for artists.

Applications require five digital photographs: four showing work the artist intends on exhibiting in a single cohesive body of work, and one booth shot without signage or branding that reveals the artist's identity. The nonrefundable application fee is $45 per category. Artists must be 18 years and older, and collaborative teams of no more than two artists are welcome. Three highly respected art professionals serve as jurors, evaluating applications blindly based on aesthetic merit, originality, technical proficiency, and marketability. Preview Party tickets are $125/person, and Saturday and Sunday admission is $6/person with children under 18 free.