OKC's Festival of the Arts goes cashless, debuts shorter format, longer hours: What to know

From the shorter, four-day setup with longer hours to the switch to an entirely cashless format, people can expect major changes at this year's Festival of the Arts in downtown Oklahoma City.

But organizers intend for the popular "rite of spring" to still be the familiar community celebration of visual, performing and culinary arts that OKC has come to know and love.

"Once they get on the grounds, they're going to see that things are just bigger and better and more enhanced: better food, better art, better performances, more activities and longer hours, too," said Angela Cozby, executive director of Arts Council Oklahoma City, which produces the festival.

"And right now, the weather's looking really great for that week."

Launched in 1967, the Festival of the Arts annually draws more than 550,000 visitors from across the state and even around the world. The free event will still feature works by 144 visual artists, diverse fare from nearly 40 food vendors and trucks, a wide range of live entertainment, children's activities and more.

Here's what you need to know about the drastically altered 2024 Festival of the Arts:

When and where is the 2024 Festival of the Arts?

The flagship event for the nonprofit Arts Council OKC, the 58th annual Festival of the Arts is planned for April 25-28 in and around Bicentennial Park, Colcord and Couch drives and City Hall lawn.

This year marks the debut of the event's new four-day, Thursday-Sunday format, which replaces the longtime Tuesday-Sunday, six-day schedule.

"We were the only six-day festival in the nation. The typical festival is three to four days long, and that's what artists enjoy doing. (For the) artists, this is a profession ... and they go from festival to festival. And it's hard for them to rebuild their supply of their work when they're going straight from our six-day festival and traveling again," Festival of the Arts Director Seth Lewis told The Oklahoman.

After announcing the shortened event, organizers received 200 additional artist applications, Cozby said. This year's showcase of 144 fine artists from across the country will include 80 who have never displayed their work in OKC before.

"That's really incredible for the community to be exposed to new artists, new artwork, and for our art buyers, we're really excited," she said.

The 2024 Festival of the Arts will run fewer days, but it will be open an hour later over the weekend. Plus, an earlier start on Sunday, April 28, will accommodate OKC Memorial Marathon participants.

The new festival hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 25; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 26-27; and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, April 28.

"To be able to hang out Friday and Saturday night until 10 p.m. will really make it a weekend date-night destination," Cozby said. "Then, on Sunday come out early, as soon as you're done with the marathon activities, and then we're staying open an hour later until 7 p.m. So, with these extended hours, there's just even more opportunity to enjoy everything that festival has to offer."

How will the switch to a cashless event streamline the festival?

In another major change, the Festival of the Arts will be a fully cashless event for the first time. All artists and food vendors will only accept debit or credit cards, which is expected to simplify purchases for both festivalgoers and vendors.

"Being cashless really does make purchases on the festival grounds quicker, easy and convenient, especially for anybody who's ever purchased art. Before at the festival, it was always a bit of a tedious process: You would have to go to the artist, get an art sales ticket, find an art sales booth, wait in line, checkout with a volunteer and then go back to your artist and exchange your paid ticket for your work of art," Cozby said. "So, to be able to purchase directly from our artists really streamlines that process. Then, of course, anywhere else you go on the site, you just use your card, swipe and go."

For students visiting the festival or those who don't use credit or debit cards, onsite kiosks will allow visitors to turn their cash into a card to use at the event with no fees. There will be a $10 minimum for the kiosks.

What improvements are being made to the festival's children's activities?

Popular children’s activities like Pottery Place, Creation Station, face painting and more will surround City Hall during the fest. With the change to cashless, Cozby said all activities offered at the Children’s Art Field now will be free.

Plus, the long-running Young at Art Mart, a no-adults-allowed tent where youngsters can buy art without parental input, has been revamped and rebranded as the Young Collectors Club.

"We have some incredible artists from the festival, but also local artists who aren't in the festival who donated artwork," Cozby said. "These kids who are going to go in there and be able to shop are really going to be hitting the jackpot with some artwork that they're going to be able to purchase. It's going to be a pretty spectacular space."

The Youth Art Sale, showcasing works by budding artists ages 8 to18 is set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 27.

What can hungry patrons expect from the fest's International Food Row?

The festival favorite is International Food Row, featuring 22 food tents lining the streets on the north and south sides of Civic Center Music Hall, will live up to its name this year, Cozby said.

"It's, I think, an even a bigger variety of food than we've had before in terms of international flair. We have Italian, American, Greek, Korean barbecue, Mexican, Indian. And again, we attibute that to a shorter festival," she said.

"We will have more vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, which in the past, have been really difficult for people to find."

Add in the food trucks that will line up outside City Hall and the food carts that will dot the grounds, and festivalgoers will be able to choose from 39 culinary vendors.

Plus, each festival food vendor partners with a local art nonprofit for the event: The nonprofit may provide volunteers or other support, and the vendor is required to make a monetary contribution to the nonprofit.

What can festivalgoers expect from the performing arts lineup?

More than 100 local performers will provide nonstop entertainment on two stages during the festival, which will boast an eclectic performing arts lineup ranging from jazz and country bands to cloggers and hip-hop dancers.

Plus, an expanded Art Moves program will put musicians, visual artists and jugglers in the festival Sculpture Park, in the Oklahoma City Museum of Art lobby and in other spots throughout the event.

"We have a new director, Erin Clemons, for Art Moves ... and she's incorporated her program throughout the festival grounds. So, you could be walking around and all of a sudden encounter Joe Coover, a local magician, or a chalk artist, or an acoustic guitarist on the Civic Center steps. So, there's going to be these pop-up performances all throughout festival," Cozby said.

In a festival first, the Saturday night main-stage finale at 8 p.m. April 28 will be a collaborative performance between the Oklahoma City Ballet and Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

How is the Arts Council OKC incorporating Fresh Paint into the festival?

After eliminating its long-running Opening Night New Year's Eve event last year, Arts Council OKC is adding the fledgling Fresh Paint mural project, a partnership with the OKC Thunder that had become a key component of the NYE festivities, to the Festival of the Arts.

The Fresh Paint mural project gives Oklahoma artists of color ages 18 to 25 a chance to create 8-foot-by-8-foot murals to be displayed on the festival grounds. Festivalgoers can vote for their favorite mural at https://www.nba.com/thunder/artscouncil.

This year's Fresh Paint artists are Esther Velasco, Makiya Deerinwater, Syon Houston, Adamaris Rodriguez and Huey Robinson.

"We are excited to once again partner with the Oklahoma City Thunder to showcase the outstanding work of Black, Indigenous and artists of color who represent the beauty found in the diversity of our community," Cozby said.

"It’s tremendous exposure for our participants."

Festival of the Arts

• When: April 25-28.

• Where: Bicentennial Park, Colcord and Couch drives, and City Hall lawn.

• Information: https://www.artscouncilokc.com/festival-of-the-arts.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma art festival kicks off: What to know about tickets, hours