Big Four Arts Festival 2026

The Big Four Arts Festival in Louisville, KY has been the most attended (15k+) two-day event ever held at Waterfront Park. The 10th B4AF 2026, the weekend following Labor Day, will be held at Waterfront Park on the Big Four Bridge Lawn. The venue features tree-lined walks overlooking the Ohio River, designed for festivals and special events. Louisville's Tourism Bureau presented the festival the Rose Award for bringing in so much commerce, and it was selected Top 200 by Sunshine Artist Magazine, #27 in under 8 years.

Festival dates are Saturday Sept 12th, 10 am-7 pm and Sunday Sept 13th, 10 am-5 pm, with Friday Sept 11th artist set up from 9am-5pm. The festival offers EZ in-out with direct vehicle access for set-up & tear down, reserved artist parking adjacent to Festival grounds, 24-hour security, light breakfast Saturday & Sunday, booth relief and water delivery, hotel discounts, and ample parking. The competitive cap is 195 juried artists.

The festival is open to individual and collaborating artists who make their own fine art and fine crafts by hand. All work must be original and made by the artist, with accepted mediums including oil, acrylic, watercolor, ceramic, fiber art, glass, jewelry, metalwork, photography, printmaking, woodworking, and many others. Artists must submit 4 images (3 representative works and 1 booth shot) through ZAPP with a $35 non-refundable application fee. Current body of work must be from 2018 forward, and artists must be present during both festival days.