The Desert Sun’s Sherry Barkas writes that La Quinta’s Civic Center park will be turned into an art lover’s oasis, from March 2nd to March 5th, as one of the city’s prime signature events, the La Quinta Arts Festival, gets under way for the 35th year. This year, the La Quinta Arts Festival will display art work in all mediums from 220 juried artists, coming from 44 states and four countries, Argentina, Canada, the Czech Republic and Nicaragua.

Live entertainment, delicious food, wine and beer complement the arts festival experience. In terms of live entertainment, R&B band Horace & The KG’s perform Friday, local jazz crooner, Mike Costley, performs Saturday and the Steve Madaio Band will close out the event with swing music on Sunday. Other performers include Milton Merlos and Scott Carter daily and Iamnotadj spinning tunes in the event’s Splash Lounge.

For more than a decade, the La Quinta Arts Festival has been ranked among the top 10 of the more than 4,500 major fine arts festivals in the country and No. 1 for three years running, from 2013 to 2015, by Greg Lawler’s Art Fair SourceBook, the definitive guide for art and craft fairs in the United States. The four day event is expected to draw more than 22,000 people. The profits from the event are used by the La Quinta Arts Foundation for scholarships awarded to local students of the arts. To date, the foundation has awarded $1.23 million in scholarships to 356 recipients.  

La Quinta Arts Festival At A Glance

  • When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, March 2nd through Sunday, March 5th
  • Where: La Quinta Civic Center Campus, 78-495 Calle Tampico, on the southwest corner of Washington Street and Calle Tampico
  • Cost: $17 daily; $22 multi-day pass; free to children 12 and under
  • Tickets: Available at the gate or online at www.lqaf.com
  • Information: Visit www.lqaf.com or call (760) 564-1244

To read Sherry Barkas’ original article, courtesy of The Desert Sun, please visit: http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/local/la-quinta/2017/02/27/la-quinta-arts-festival-celebrates-35-years/98348602/