The Kentuck Festival of the Arts returns to Northport on October 14th and 15th for its 52nd year. Festivities are set to take place at Kentuck Park.
The event attracts crowds of visitors each year, and it’s been recognized as one of the top-ten events to attend in Alabama by the Alabama Department of Tourism.
The two-day festival highlights local and national folk art. Participants can also enjoy a variety of other arts and crafts, live entertainment, spoken word, food trucks and local craft brews. Over 270 local and national artists will perform this year.
Ashley Williams is the Marketing Manager at the Kentuck Art Center. She said the festival is her favorite event of the year because of the caliber of art. Artists have to apply to get in, and their applications are put before a jury.
“They have to score highly in the jury before they're allowed in. So, as a jury festival, we only accept the highest caliber of artists that apply,” Williams said. “The caliber of artists, the caliber of musicians, the quality of our spoken word… There's a little bit of a magical quality when you get everybody in the same spot in one weekend.”
Although Kentuck is rooted in folk art, Williams said there’s still a variety of art and activities to enjoy.
“We do celebrate all forms of art, including contemporary art. So, you'll see anything from mixed media, recycled material art, to really fine oil paintings, and everything in between. We really try to celebrate all of our art. We've got sculpture, metal art, clay, printmaking, drawing and painting a whole range of art,” Williams said.
If visual arts don’t excite an individual, there’s music, spoken word, hands-on activities, food and drinks to enjoy. The festival is kid-friendly with events for the little ones.
“The Kentuck Festival of the Arts has a whole section dedicated to our kids. It's called Kentuck for Kids. There's a ton of free activities there for children, including some Chinese calligraphy. We've got some clay, some paper marbling and some tie dye as well,” Williams said.
Tie dye is the only paid activity, and it costs $5. Kids who participate will be able to keep their shirts. Children can also take part in building birdhouses with the Woodworkers Association of West Alabama. In addition to the birdhouses, youngsters can also create their own sandstone tile.
“We also have floss metal artists do a live metal pouring demonstration,” Williams said. “So, people can scratch their design into a sandstone tile and then the floss artists take that sandstone tile and cast it in metal. Then you get to leave a little bit later in the day with a totally cooled off metal tile. That was your design that you made while you were at Kentuck.”
There will also be food trucks and local craft brews as well as a variety of music for everyone to enjoy.
“This year we've got a wide variety of music, including a performance from the Tuscaloosa Ukulele Club. And then we have some country music and Americana alternative music, including Gary Nichols, Katy Mulvihill and Patrick O'Sullivan. It's a really great variety of music in addition our spoken word stage.” Williams said.
The Kathryn Tucker Windham Spoken Word Stage will include work from The University of Alabama undergraduate creative writers, Ashley M. Jones, who is the current Alabama poet laureate, and performers reading some of Kathryn Tucker Windham’s work.
Williams said the experience of Kentuck is captivating, but Kentuck’s connection to the guests is what makes the festival unique and memorable.
“You walk in, and it can be so exciting, a little bit overwhelming. It really involves all of your senses. You're going to smell the food from our local food vendors, you're going to see some incredible art, you're going to hear some wonderful music and spoken word, and you get to talk to the artists that are there with their work. I think that's part of what makes Kentuck so special,” Williams said. “If you go to a museum, a lot of times in a museum, all the artists have already passed on. But with Kentuck, all of the artists who are included are living, and you get to talk to them while they're there, and you get to buy their work.”
The Kentuck experience is year-round. So, if someone can’t make it this weekend, Williams said they can still participate in one of the monthly events.
“We have a whole campus throughout the year because of the Kentuck festival and its success. We're able to hold monthly art nights with rotating exhibitions from artists all over the southeast, and we're able to host artists in our tier gallery. Those are specifically local artists. We're also able to host many workshops, and our Saturday art markets as well,” Williams said.
It’s important to keep in mind that pets, smoking, weapons, bicycles, scooters and skateboards are not allowed at the festival.
The festival is Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Individual day passes are $15, and weekend passes are $25. Kids under the age of 12 will get in free. More can be found here.
