What’s new at Arts Fest in 2025? Your guide to parking, food, live music & more

Now that the Fourth of July has come and gone, perhaps the biggest summer event in central Pennsylvania is just days away.

The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts — better known as simply Arts Fest — annually draws thousands of visitors to the State College area to peruse craft goods, catch live performances and chow down on plenty of snacks. This year’s festival will stretch from July 9 to 13.

Whether you’re a longtime festival fan or you’re planning your very first visit, here’s what you need to know about Arts Fest parking, food, admission, live entertainment and more.

New festival map, parking and shuttle service

Each year, Arts Fest takes over several blocks and streets in downtown State College and some parts of Penn State’s University Park campus.

Perhaps the most convenient parking option for guests driving to State College is any of the downtown parking garages, which are located at 200 W. Beaver Ave., 126 S. Pugh St., 135 Fraser St. and 132 McAllister St. Each garage charges $2.25 per hour during the festival with a maximum daily rate of $32.

Another option is Penn State’s West Parking Deck located along White Course Drive. The garage will charge $2 for the first hour, $3 for under two hours and $10 for those who park between two and 10 hours. A walk from the West Parking Deck to the festival’s center takes about 10 minutes, Arts Fest organizers say.

Arts Fest guests can also reach the festival using a free shuttle service that makes stops at the West Parking Deck, the corner of College Avenue and South Allen Street and the new Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State’s Arboretum. The shuttle will run from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Longtime festival guests should note a few changes to this year’s map. Ongoing construction at Penn State’s Sackett Building, parts of which were recently demolished as part of a nearly $90 million project, has closed access to some areas near the Pattee Mall and Old Main lawn. The project’s impacts forced Arts Fest organizers to move some booths to occupy both sides of Pollock Road, plus a portion of Burrowes Road and the western sidewalks of the Old Main Mall.

Arts Fest vendors will set up in State College on Allen Street from Highland Alley to Fairmount Avenue, on Fairmount Avenue from Allen Street to Fraser Street and on Fraser Street from Fairmount Avenue to Foster Avenue.

Art on full display

More than 300 artists from across the country are expected to show off their work and sell creative goods at the festival’s annual Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition.

This year’s sale will run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. A panel of jurors will judge each participating artist and vendor’s booth throughout State College and on Penn State’s campus before dishing out several awards, including a top prize of $20,000.

Arts Fest also offers a separate sale and exhibition for younger creators between the ages of 8 and 18 who live in or have relatives in Blair, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Mifflin or Union counties. That sale runs during the festival’s Children’s & Youth Day, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

You can visit arts-festival.com/artists to learn more about this year’s featured artists and exhibitors. Those who attend this year’s festival will find participating vendors offering goods and crafts from the following categories:

• Basketry
• Ceramics
• Digital art
• Drawing
• Fiber
• Glass
• Jewelry
• Leather
• Metal
• Mixed media (2D)
• Mixed media (3D)
• Musical instruments
• Other (featuring artists specializing in rock and sandblasted glass artwork)
• Painting
• Paper
• Photography
• Printmaking
• Sculpture
• Watercolor
• Wood

Artists of all ages annually create colorful banners that hang above and throughout the Arts Fest route in town as part of the festival’s Banner Exhibition and Competition. Those walking the festival route will also likely see street painters working along Foster Avenue off of South Allen Street on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to create colorful scenes and displays.

Once again, Arts Fest will offer a courtesy tent at which guests can drop off their purchases for safekeeping while they continue enjoying the festival. The tent, available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, is located outside the State College Municipal Building on South Allen Street. Guests should note all checked items must be picked up by closing time on the day they’re dropped off and items can’t be left overnight.

Festival food

With dozens of food trucks and vendors on tap for this year’s festival, it’ll be tough to go hungry at Arts Fest.

Locals and festival veterans might recognize a number of Centre County favorites mixed into this year’s group, but a few options are new to the event this year. Vendors will serve everything from kettle corn and fresh-squeezed lemonade to Chinese food, oversized cheeseburgers and seafood dishes.

Here’s a brief look at this year’s offerings, organized by their approximate location along the festival route:

South Allen Street and Calder Way

• Miller’s Tropical Sno

South Allen Street and Highland Alley

• Chan’s Golden Gate

Food truck court (Memorial Field parking lot)

• Bonnie Blue’s Smokeys and Sweets
• Brazilian Munchies
• Everything about Crepes
• Funnel Cake Kings
• Hellenic Kouzina Mobile Kitchen
• Rebelz Mobile Kitchen
• Sinister Mini Donuts
• Sunset Slush of Happy Valley

South Allen Street and Nittany Avenue

• Belly Busters
• Doug’s Dawgs
• Moody Culture
• Inside Out Cookie
• Classic Cones

Sidney Friedman Park

• Hanson’s Kettle Korn
• Maine Bay & Berry

On Penn State’s campus

• Penn State Berkey Creamery ice cream (along Fraser Road)
• Real Taste 570 (Corner of Pollock Road and Burrowes Road)
• Tropic-O-Ice: Gourmet Shaved Ice (Corner of Pollock Road and Burrowes Road)

Crack open a cold one

Once again, Arts Fest is teaming up with the Central PA Tasting Trail to host a craft beverage expo. There, central Pennsylvania-based breweries, wineries and distilleries will offer samples and bottles of their beers, wines, ciders and spirits made locally.

This year, the tasting trail has moved to Sidney Friedman Park next to Memorial Field. Of-age patrons can enter through the southwest corner of the park near the intersection of South Fraser Street and West Foster Avenue. Guests must bring a valid ID to receive a wristband.

Guests at the tasting trail can sample their beverages while listening to a stacked lineup of live entertainment. All drinks must be consumed inside the tasting trail area to avoid violating the State College borough’s open container restrictions.

The tasting trail is open from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. The following featured exhibitors are scheduled to participate in this year’s event:

• Barrel 21 Distillery (Friday)
• Boal City Brewing (Friday)
• Keewaydin Cider Mill (Friday)
• Otto’s Pub and Brewery (Friday)
• Titan Hollow (Friday)
• University Wine Co. (Friday)
• 814 Cider Works (Saturday)
• Axemann Brewery (Saturday)
• Big Spring Spirits (Saturday)
• Mount Nittany Winery (Saturday)
• Pisano Winery (Saturday)
• Robin Hood Brewing Co. (Saturday)
• University Wine Co. (Saturday)

Those looking for an all-ages thirst-quencher outside of food trucks and vendors can stop by one of several Arts Fest information booths scattered across the festival grounds to buy $2 bottles of cold water. Booths are available this year at the corner of Pollock Road and Burrowes Road, the corner of Fairmount Avenue and South Fraser Street and the corner of College Avenue and South Allen Street.

Live music and entertainment

You’d be hard-pressed to walk the festival route without running into a few live bands and performances along the way.

Just as in years past, Arts Fest will host dozens of local and regional artists and acts across a wide range of styles. Visitors can check out the event’s website for a full daily schedule of entertainment at the festival.

Arts Fest’s entertainers will perform throughout State College at a number of venues, including the main stage at Sidney Friedman Park, the Allen Street stage and the festival shell on Old Main Lawn. New this year are two more stages on Penn State’s campus: one at the intersection of Pollock and Burrowes roads and another in the plaza outside the Willard Building.

Nearly all of Arts Fest’s entertainment options are once again free this year. Last year, the festival did away with paid wristbands and buttons that once granted admission to indoor entertainment options. Still, some entertainment — including paid shows and screenings at The State Theatre or nearby Blue Brick Theatre — will still require a separate admission fee.

Tips and tricks

Families heading to Arts Fest might be excited to see a new Kids Zone set up at Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on South Fraser Street. There, from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, families are welcome to play yard games, complete crafts and help paint a mural “themed around Arts Festival, community and Penn State Health,” festival organizers said.

Arts Fest partnered with The State Theatre this year to offer a cooling station for attendees who need a break from the summer heat. Guests can stop by the theater from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in between performances.

And it’s not too late to grab your copy of this year’s Arts Fest poster. The commemorative souvenir for 2025 was designed by a 2018 graduate of Penn State’s graphic design program whose father created the annual poster for decades.

You can pick up this year’s poster for free through the end of the festival at the following locations:

• Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts (403 S. Allen St. Suite 205A in State College)
• Downtown State College Improvement District (127 S. Fraser St. in State College)
• State College Framing Company and Gallery (160 Rolling Ridge Drive in State College)
• HUB-Robeson Center Desk (along Pollock Road on Penn State’s campus)
• The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau (204 W. Beaver Ave. in State College)
• Hintz Family Alumni Center (on Penn State’s campus)

About Arts Fest

Central Pennsylvania’s premier arts festival dates back to 1967, when the then-State College Chamber of Commerce partnered with Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture “in an effort to bring the arts and commerce to the area,” the festival says. Organizers hoped the festival would help boost local businesses while Penn State students were away for the summer.

Now, more than half a century later, the independent, not-for-profit organization serves as one of the biggest summer events in central Pennsylvania. Arts Fest operates year-round thanks to a full-time staff, a volunteer board of directors and hundreds of volunteers.

Each year, Arts Fest organizers also produce First Night State College, an art-centered celebration held on New Year’s Eve.

This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 2:37 PM.

Matt DiSanto

Centre Daily Times

814-231-4616

Matt is a 2022 Penn State graduate. Before arriving at the Centre Daily Times, he served as Onward State’s managing editor and a general assignment reporter at StateCollege.com. Support my work with a digital subscription