The Foothills Folk Art Festival, hosted by the City of Newton & the Hickory Museum of Art will be in full swing October 5, 2019! Join in on the fun from 10 AM to 4 PM for the 4th Annual Foothills Folk Art Festival located in Downtown Newton. This family friendly festival, which is expected to draw thousands of visitors from throughout the region, will showcase a variety of local and regional contemporary folk artists - whose work will be for sale - as well as artist demos, hands-on art activities for kids, live music, food truck vendors, beer gardens, and more!
The Foothills Folk Art Festival's roots date back to 2005 when the Hickory Museum of Art presented its first folk art festival as part of a series of exhibitions, publications and related programming, following the accession of 153 folk art objects from the collection of Barry and Allen Huffman of Hickory. Over the years, the festival has been held at different locations in Hickory and Sherrills Ford.
With over 45 Vendors & artists at this years festival - folk art finds include works in jewelry, baskets & textiles, glasswork, metal, wood works and more!
On March 14, 2018 at an awards ceremony in Clayton, NC, the Foothills Folk Art Festival won a statewide award from the N.C. Department of Commerce, for "Best Downtown Special Event." A panel of judges chose the award winners from dozens of applications submitted from throughout the state; and NC government officials presented the award to Newton Mayor Anne Stedman and Hickory Museum of Art Executive Director Jon Carfagno. The festival's principal organizers, Shannon Johnson, Newton’s Main Street Program coordinator, and Clarissa Starnes, Associate Director of Hickory Museum of Art and the Foothills Folk Art Festival artist contact, were also at the awards ceremony.
“... This award from the N.C. Department of Commerce speaks to the quality of the festival, and we are dedicated to to making the festival even better each year.””— Shannon Johnson, Newton’s Main Street Program Coordinator
Click here for more information on the Festival and for more information on Folk Art in Hickory click here!
