Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival 2026

Since 1966, the Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival has celebrated and shared the arts with the community. The festival takes place on Monday, September 7, 2026 from 10 am-5 pm in a parking lot adjacent to Northam Park, located between the UA Public Library, Tremont Elementary School, and the Tremont Pool. The event attracts approximately 10,000 visitors and accepts approximately 120 artists with 44 corner booth spaces available, plus up to 5 emerging artist spaces.

Artists benefit from easy setup and teardown, drive-up loading and unloading, free parking with shuttle service, free continental breakfast and coffee, and optional setup on Sunday before the festival. Boxed lunches are available for purchase and delivery to booth spaces. Tent rentals and booth sitting are available. Based on the 2025 Artist Survey, average sales are $3,000. Artist Awards range from $200-$600 per artist in addition to automatic acceptance into the next year's show with waived booth space fees.

The application deadline is February 22, 2026 at midnight EST. The jury application fee is $30 (non-refundable). Applicants must submit 3 images of individual artwork plus 1 booth image. Images should be void of artist signatures or identifying marks to ensure an anonymous jury process. Artists will be notified of acceptance on April 15, 2026. Full payment is due by June 15, 2026. The deadline to cancel and receive a full refund (minus the jury application fee) is July 15, 2026. An Emerging Artist Program is available for Franklin County residents and students who have never exhibited in a juried arts festival, with a reduced jury application fee of 50% and reduced booth space cost of $75. Emerging artists are required to attend all workshops and meetings prior to the festival. Contact Jodi Hatfield at [email protected] or 614-583-5312 (office) or 614-955-8271 (cell) for more information.