Ready for 2025’s People’s Choice Festival? Read up on parking, music, food & more
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- The People’s Choice Festival runs July 10-13 at Centre Hall’s Grange Park.
- The festival features nearly 200 Pennsylvania artists, plus food vendors and live music.
- Admission and parking are free, but camping is available for a nightly fee.
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Centre County festival weekend 2025
Festival weekend has arrived in Centre County, with visitors and locals alike flocking to the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, People’s Choice Festival, Philipsburg Heritage Days and more. Find full coverage below, and enjoy the events!
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With two of central Pennsylvania’s biggest festivals returning this week, Happy Valley’s summer season is back in full swing.
The People’s Choice Festival of Pennsylvania, proudly called central Pennsylvania’s annual “homegrown festival,” is back for another weekend of family-friendly fun. The festival is entering its fourth year in Centre Hall, but its focus on celebrating and promoting Pennsylvania artists and vendors remains unchanged.
Whether you’re a longtime People’s Choice fan or considering stopping by for the first time, here’s what you need to know about its art, food, live entertainment and more.
When is the festival?
This year, People’s Choice kicks off on Thursday, July 10, and wraps up Sunday, July 13.
Longtime guests might notice a slight reduction in hours with this year’s People’s Choice closing an hour early Thursday through Saturday and opening an hour earlier on Sunday. The festival will run on the following schedule:
- 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 10
- 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, July 11
- 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, July 12
- 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 13
Directions, parking and camping
Haven’t been to People’s Choice in a few years? Make sure you go to the right place.
The festival has called Grange Park in Centre Hall home since 2022 after previously setting up at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg for decades. Guests can reach the fairgrounds by heading to 149 Homan Lane in Centre Hall off of Route 45, where festival organizers will direct cars to the best available lot.
Admission and parking are both free this year. Festival organizers say guests should consider bringing nonperishable food items to donate to a local food bank in lieu of a fee.
Camping is also available at the Grange Park for those who don’t mind a more outdoorsy weekend. Camping fees range between $52 and $57 per night, depending on the size of your vehicle. You can make a reservation by calling 814-380-1893 and read up on camping rules and guidelines at grangefair.com/peoples-choice.
All about art
Unlike some other festivals, People’s Choice centers on only Pennsylvania-based artists. Nearly 200 creators and vendors are expected to present and sell their goods at the festival this year.
You can visit peopleschoicefestival.com/art online to browse through this year’s participating artists and filter between mediums and categories, including jewelry, photography and wood-based goods.
People’s Choice maintains an online directory of artists who participated in its festivals in the past. Visit peopleschoicefestival.com/art/past-artists to find contact information for available artists.
Food and drink
There’s certainly no shortage of things to eat and drink while perusing the People’s Choice fairgrounds.
Eighteen food vendors listed on the People’s Choice website are scheduled to serve guests at two food courts organized on the east and west ends of the fairgrounds. These options include local favorites like BBQ by Clem, Rosie’s Pierogies, Scott’s Roasting and Idou Coffee Company, plus a wide range of concessions from Snyder Concessions.
Additionally, 13 specialty food vendors are slated to set up shop at this year’s festival. These options, including Bellefonte’s Inside Out Cookie Co., offer a range of gourmet treats and goodies, including homemade dog treats, fudge and spices.
Check out this year’s full lineup of food vendors online by visiting peopleschoice.com/food and peopleschoicefestival.com/specialty-food.
A dozen Pennsylvania-based wineries are slated to serve samples and bottles of their specialty drinks at the festival, too. Here’s a quick look at this year’s roster:
- Adams County Winery
- Blue Mountain Vineyards 3 Cellars
- Deep Roots Hard Cider
- Happy Valley Vineyard & Winery
- Hawstone Hollow Winery
- Hungry Run Wine Cellars, LLC
- KingView Mead, Wine, Cider
- Mason Dixon Distillery
- Nomand Distilling Company
- Seven Mountains Wine Cellars
- Starr Hill Vineyard and Winery
- University Wine Company
Live music and entertainment
It wouldn’t be a People’s Choice Festival without plenty of local bands, artists and entertainers to keep the energy high.
Here’s a brief overview of this year’s entertainment schedule, available online at peopleschoicefestival.com/music. Each act is scheduled to play at the performance stage located near the center of the fairgrounds.
Thursday, July 10
- Folk IndiBob — 11 a.m.
- Hops and Vines — 12:30 p.m.
- Pure Cane Sugar — 2 p.m.
- Joe Bonson & Coffee Run — 3:30 p.m.
- Velveeta — 5:30 p.m.
Friday, July 11
- State College Rock Camp — 11 a.m.
- Jeff Gibbie, Zeb Crews & Zach Humphreys — 12:30 p.m.
- Free Range — 2 p.m.
- JR Mangan Band featuring Veronica — 3:30 p.m.
- Liverpool Lads “Tribute to the Beatles” — 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 12
- Summer Martial Arts — 11 a.m.
- Adam Hallacher Sextet — 12:30 p.m.
- A Rock Show — 2 p.m.
- Stars in Sapphire — 3:30 p.m.
- Best Friends Girl — America’s Favorite Cars Experience — 5:30 p.m.
Sunday July 13
- Centre Hall Council of Churches — 9:30 a.m.
- Acoustic Artifacts — 11 a.m.
- Zent Cover Crew — 12:30 p.m.
- The Coal Aly Band — 2:30 p.m.
Children’s activities
People’s Choice is again rolling out a wide range of activities for its younger attendees and families, including a youth artists’ sale, a hands-on science museum, balloon animals, inflatable play areas and face painting.
New this year, People’s Choice will celebrate Christmas in July with a festive tent decorated by Jabco Christmas Decor near the center of the fairgrounds. There, guests can hear holiday music, complete festive crafts, play Christmas-themed games and get an early start on holiday shopping. Festival organizers say “snow flurries” should fall throughout the fairgrounds as part of the celebration.
Perhaps the biggest part of the Christmas in July celebration arrives at 11 a.m. Saturday, when Santa Claus visits the festival atop a Centre Hall Fire Company fire truck. He’ll pose for photos and hear children’s in-progress wish lists until 4 p.m.
More about People’s Choice
People’s Choice can trace its roots back to 1993, when local artists sought to create an alternative to the increasingly popular Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College. Today, the Centre Hall-based festival has grown significantly and remains committed to exclusively featuring Pennsylvania vendors.
People’s Choice celebrated 30 years in 2024. It annually attracts more than 110,00 guests across each summer’s four-day festival, organizers say.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 4:21 PM.
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