• Adult (19+)
• Young Adult (13-18)
• Children (Under 12)

This is one of the very few opportunities for authors and poets to demonstrate their talents. Excerpts from winning entries will be published in  the May edition of On The Town. Send or hand-deliver hard-copy entries to:

On The Town

2141 Port Sheldon Street

Jenison, MI 49429

Electronic submissions may be sent to: festivalliterary@live.com.

 All entries must have a separate cover sheet with your name, address, phone number, category, and age bracket. Do not put your name or any identifying info on the story or poem itself. Use paper clips, please - no staples! One entry per person per category; please include two copies of every submission. All entries must be delivered or postmarked by February 24, 2012.

Festival has six performance stages, with continuous acts throughout the three-day event. To perform at Festival, you and your group must be residents of Kent County (Michigan) or its surrounding counties:Ottawa, Muskegon, Newaygo, Montcalm, Ionia, Barry or Allegan counties. 

Deadline for applications is February 3, 2012.

Special thanks to the hard-working volunteers who helped put Festival together! From setting up stages to painting kids' faces, to helping with Paint-In and Glue-In, to the nonprofit organizations who operated Festival food booths - you're the best volunteers EVER, and we salute you!

Deep gratitude goes to the many area businesses and individuals who supported Festival 2011 in a financial way. Your sponsorships, program ads, and cash donations made Festival possible.

See you all next year - June 1-2-3, 2012!

Longtime Festival volunteer Joann Reeves was rewarded on Friday night of Festival weekend with the 2011 Diane I. Casey "Spirit of Festival" award.

The award recognizes the person or organization who best represents the energy, heart, and spirit of this community event, as exemplified by Festival 1987 Co-Chair Diane Casey, who passed away in 2003.

Past award winners include David Mix, Randy Hoekstra, Fred Bivins, Gina Bivins, Kathy Kuhn, the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, and the Aguilar/Garcia family.

Everyone in the Festival family congratulates Joann! She's Festival's biggest cheerleader and really deserves this award!

More about Joann in this article from MLive.com: http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/06/festival_of_the_arts_spirit_of.html

The crowds were great, the art was beautiful, the performers were spectacular, the volunteers were amazing. All in all, Festival of the Arts 2011 was SPECTACULAR!!

See you next year ... June 1, 2 and 3!

2011 Poster is a Festival First

The exciting Festival 2011 poster is the first block print poster ever! Grand Rapids artist Alynn Guerra designed the Festival 2011 poster in black and white, with a striking, red Calder Sun logo and La Grande Vitesse. “I wanted to bring emphasis to the Calder stabile and Festival, and, at the same time show off all the fun that is Festival,” said Guerra.

Alynn is a visual artist who learned about relief/block printmaking while growing up in Mexico City.  As a child she was attracted to the bold graphic posters that hung in the city depicting the struggles of the people there. Guerra moved to Grand Rapids eleven years ago and started Red Hydrant Press.

 According to the artist’s statement, “I use block-printing as my main medium of expression, because I love the forcefulness of the black and white impressions from a block that is cut with a variety of knives and gauges.”

Posters are available for sale at the Festival Store during Festival weekend. The Store is located on Ottawa Avenue in front of the Chase Bank building.