Get Arsty At The 2024 River Arts Festival

Share This:

Get Arsty At The 2024 River Arts Festival

Ed. Note: It's a Memphis tradition, and this year it's blocking off Riverside Drive again! The RiverArtsFest, on Oct. 19-20, features 150+ arts and crafts vendors, live music, artist demos, and more. Contributor Daniel has all the details. I've added some updates pertaining to this year's festival, but it's all still in the lovely words from Daniel.

Get your artsy souls ready—Memphis' largest fine arts festival, RiverArtsFest, is back for its 18th year!

river arts fest along the river
 RiverArtsFest Memphis on Riverside Drive. 

Featuring nearly 150 fine artists from across the nation, live music, and hands-on activities on the banks of the Mississippi River, this year's RiverArtsFest will again be one for the books. RiverArtsFest is one of my (Daniel's) personal favorite festivals in Memphis. The festival is designed to cultivate the arts community in our city—profits from it go back into growing the festival and supporting various education initiatives throughout the year.

Photo by Philip Murphy. Courtesy of RiverArtsFest.

More Than 200-Juried Fine Artists Participating

Thousands of people attend every year to delight themselves with the amazing work artists from across the country put on display and to, hopefully, bring home some new one-of-a-kind pieces of art. Others just go for the people-watching experience, which is perfectly fine too. With more than 150-juried fine artists participating, the artists market of RiverArtsFest 2024 will feature original works in painting, photography, ceramics, glass, wood, drawing, jewelry, metalwork, sculpture, and more. 

Two Stages for Musical and Theatrical Performances

In addition to the artists market, the festival will also feature a variety of musical acts on their main stage, including Tennessee Mass Choir, Tonya Dyson Trio, 2 Quarts Low, Elmo and the Shades, and many more! Expect to meet some strolling musicians and performing artists along the festival as well.

This year, the festival will have the ARTSmemphis Performing Stage featuring performances by Stax Music Academy, Hattiloo Theatre, Tennessee Shakespeare Company, and lots more amazing groups.

Immerse Yourself into the Arts

The little ones (and even the not-so-little ones) will be able to showcase their own artistic abilities at the festival’s "Hands on Arts" interactive station. And if you'd rather just see how professional artists create their masterpieces, then make sure to check out the "Artist at Work" stations, which will feature demos for metalsmithing, woodturning,  glassblowing, pottery, and more. 

Photo by Justin Fox Burks

If you are like me and associate fine art with fine wine, the "Arts Bars" throughout the festival will have you covered with specialty cocktails, beer, and wine. Various food vendors will be on site too.

Go There:

RiverArtsFest
October 19-20, 2024
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Ticket Info:
$10 - General Admission
$15 - Two-Day GA
$5 - Veterans and Active Military
$5 - Children ages 6 to 17
Free for children ages 5 and under

Find the festival on Riverside Drive, between Jefferson St. and Beale St. Entrance locations include Jefferson Avenue, Court Avenue, Union Avenue and Beale Street. The City is blocking off the street to make way for the festivities typically starting that Thursday before the festival.


Photo by Alex Shansky

A Few More Notes

-Leave pets at home along with coolers and alcoholic beverages

-Most artists accept credit cards; but some may require cash (there's no ATM on site)

For even more info, visit: riverartsmemphis.org.

Originally published in 2018. Updated for 2024.

About The Author 
Daniel Bastardo is a Venezuelan scientist at St. Jude with a genuine love for Memphis. He is a runner and social media enthusiast who is passionate about all things local. Find him on all social media outlets as @dbastardo27.  

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Don’t miss out on all the Memphis goodness!
Subscribe Here

Comments Make Us Happy

2
Leave a Comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
About text formats
Candace
Hope they move RiverArts back to South Main in 2019. Just didnt have same feel as on South Main. River is nice but on that hot asphalt with no green space, it didnt have the artsy, friendly, inviting, diverse & interesting atmosphere of South Main. Felt very closed in & crowded. Seemed like fewer booths. I like seeing artists fro outside the are but it's also disappointing to see so few Mid South arists represented. And the food choices were minimal. Where were all our great local food trucks? Also no provision made for handicap parking.
October 28, 2018 6:57pm
Holly Whitfield
Thanks for reading and commenting, Candace. I'd reach out to the organizers directly to be sure that your feedback is received. I know that construction prevented it from taking place in its usual location this year.
October 29, 2018 1:04pm

You Might Also Like