Festival of the Arts (Grand Rapids)

{{Short description|Arts festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States}}

{{About|the festival in Grand Rapids|other uses|Festival of the Arts (disambiguation){{!}}Festival of the Arts}}

{{Infobox recurring event

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| logo = festivalofthearts-logo.png

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| logo_caption = The Calder Sun, official logo of Festival

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| status = defunct

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| frequency = Annually

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| location = Grand Rapids, Michigan

| coordinates = {{Coord|42.96907|-85.67059|type:event_region:US-MI|display=inline,title}}

| country = United States

| years_active = {{age|1970|2025}}

| first = {{start date|1970||}}

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| website = {{URL|https://festivalgr.org/}}

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The Festival of the Arts – known locally as simply Festival, typically with the year added (e.g. "Festival 2005") – was a three-day multimedia arts festival, held annually at the La Grande Vitesse sculpture in Grand Rapids, Michigan on the first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of June. The event was free and open to all.

The event featured live performances of music, dance, and other performing arts; displays and sales of paintings and other visual arts; art and sculpture opportunities for children; film/video and literary presentations; and a wide variety of multicultural food booths operated by local non-profit organizations. The festival typically involved nearly 20,000 community volunteers and over half a million visitors.[http://www.festivalofthearts.org/whats_festival.php Festival of the Arts - Grand Rapids, Michigan] According to the Library of Congress, Festival was the largest all-volunteer arts festival in the United States.[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/MI/200003177.html Michigan: Festival of the Arts: The Nation's Largest All-Volunteer Arts Festival (Local Legacies: Celebrating Community Roots - Library of Congress)]

In Feb 2025, the event's organizers announced that the Festival would cease operations.{{Cite web |last=Kukulka |first=Mitchell |date=2025-02-08 |title=Grand Rapids' ‘Festival of the Arts’ ends after 55 years |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2025/02/grand-rapids-festival-of-the-arts-ends-after-55-years.html |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=MLive |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Corinne |title=Festival of the Arts ending after 55 years |url=https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/festival-of-the-arts-ending-after-55-years/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |website=WOOD-TV}}