Northeast Baltimore’s arts festival for new and emerging talent!

Welcome to Overlea ArtsFest, a FREE family-friendly annual event celebrating local visual and performing art. Artists and filmmakers of all genres and levels of experience are invited to submit their work to our juried show, which is held on the second weekend of August every year at the beautiful Holt Park & Center for the Arts. A diverse group of performance artists, singers, musicians and spoken word poets are chosen to perform at each event. Free art activities are offered for kids of all ages, to encourage families to enjoy art projects together and connect children to their own natural creativity. And our mini Film Festival showcases the talent of local as well as a few national & international filmmakers.

Enjoy the juried show with 50+ local artists and vote for your favorites in our People’s Choice awards… walk the nature trails on the Holt Park grounds… and have a picnic lunch on the grass with your family. You can even bring your dog! ArtsFest has something for everyone.

In March of 2023, ArtsFest realized one of its important expansion goals when it launched the 1st annual Overlea ArtsFest Youth Art Show. This sister event was dedicated to showcasing the artwork of young artists between 6 and 15 years of age. It was held at Holt Park & Center for the Arts, and was a great success. Art teachers, parents and Scout leaders from all over central Maryland helped young people participate, and prizes were given to the winners in each age category. The top winners will be invited to display their winning pieces at the larger juried ArtsFest show in August of 2023.

Artists are not charged a fee to submit their work for our juried exhibitions, making ArtsFest a very “pro-artist” organization. Attendance to our events is FREE, as are the art and nature activities offered for kids and families. Food and drinks are available during the event.

Overlea ArtsFest began in 2016, as the cherished dream of a handful of dedicated board members from the Overlea Community Association. With a small grant from Baltimore County, the first ArtsFest committee designed the blueprint for an inclusive art event that would be both respectful to the artists and enjoyable for the community.

We receive only partial funding from our local government agencies, so we rely on fundraising to produce many aspects of our community arts festival. We feel it's essential to pay our performers for their work, and reward our winning artists with prizes for their achievements. All funds received go directly toward event programs and expenses, and our board staff is all volunteer. You can easily choose which fund you prefer your donations to benefit. Any amount donated is helpful and appreciated.

Overlea ArtsFest is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization in the state of MD. Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

The Overlea ArtsFest Board

(Feel free to visit our website to view our Non-Discrimination Policy and see details for this year's events.)

Overlea ArtsFest

Supporting Northeast Baltimore's new & emerging visual artists!

Youth Art Program