Vandergrift Artfest

09/30/2026

You only have until October 4th to cast your vote in the Trib's Best of annual voting. We would love to see Artfest celebrated again as best festival in the Pittsburgh East division! Read all about it in the post below, and get your vote in before the 4th!

09/08/2026

Do you love Artfest? Did you love the "Strange Encounters in the Grift" theme this summer? Are you looking forward to an "Artfest with a Renaissance Flare" in 2027? Then cast a vote for us for best festival in the Pittsburgh East division! https://tinyurl.com/VandergriftArtfest We're up against some mighty fine competition so your vote is appreciated! We're also nominated as best local event so you can vote for that, too! https://tinyurl.com/ArtfestVandergrift Vote for all of your favorite Vandergrift businesses while you're at it, too! We are very grateful for all of the love you've shown us!

09/04/2026

Let's be honest.... we feel a little like David vs. Goliath here, but we are sooooo proud that VANDERGRIFT ARTFEST has been nominated as a "best of the best" large festival in the Pittsburgh East division, AND in the "local event" category. In the large festival category, we're up against big local festivals AND most humbling of all, PICKLESBURGH! Artfest vs. Picklesburgh -- LET'S GO!!! So we're going to need all of our Artfest fans to vote, invite your followers to vote, invite your grandma to vote.... you see how this is going to go. We would love your support and we're so grateful that your nominations already carried us this far. Here's the link, and while you're in the East Pittsburgh ballot make sure that you vote for ALL of the restaurants, shops, businesses, etc. from Vandergrift that have been nominated. Thank you!!!

08/03/2026

You have just 24 hours left to bid on one of the amazing 2026 palettes still up for grabs! A palette can be a statement piece for your garden, porch, or over your fireplace! We have some incredible palettes without any bids! Remember that proceeds from the auction go to support our annual scholarship given to a local student of the arts at the college level. Our artists donate their time and talent to support this project! Check out what's available and get your bids in before 9 pm on Monday, August 3rd! Happy bidding!

Bid on a one‑of‑a‑kind palette and help fund a scholarship for a local student of the arts! 🎨 Each piece in the Vandergrift Artfest 2026 Palette Auction is…

07/28/2026

Thanks for coming!!!!

07/28/2026

Congratulations to guenevere_kardos for winning the People's Choice Palette Award for her stunning piece, "Kelpie."

Guen takes home the $100 People's Choice prize—and, of course, a full year of braggin' rights! 🎉👏

Thank you to everyone who voted and to all of our incredible palette artists this year!

07/28/2026

Congratulations to cryptoteeology, winner of the 2026 Vandergrift ArtFest Vendor Spirit Award!

They've earned more than just bragging rights—they've also won a FREE vendor space at next year's Vandergrift ArtFest!

Be sure to check them out next weekend in Johnstown, PA for another strange event squonkapalooza

07/28/2026

Congratulations to grantavenuecollective!

We are happy to announce that Grant Avenue Collective is the recipient of the 2026 Vandergrift ArtFest Business Spirit Award!

This year's ArtFest theme, "Strange Encounters in the Grift," came to life in spectacular fashion thanks to their incredible creativity and enthusiasm. Their eye-catching window display, beautifully created by Beaglebee's, immediately drew visitors into the spirit of the festival!

As this year's winner, GAC earns not only year-long bragging rights but also the official Vandergrift ArtFest Business Spirit Award Trophy 🏆, proudly recognizing their outstanding community spirit and creative participation.

Thank you for helping make Vandergrift ArtFest such a unique and unforgettable celebration. Be sure to stop in, congratulate the team, and experience their wonderfully strange world for yourself! 👽🛸✨🫈

07/28/2026

How do we say thank you for the most spectacular day? How do we make sure that we don't inadvertently leave someone out who deserves to be thanked? Even saying thank you has its risks.

But we're gonna try anyway. Yesterday was just the best day. Thank you to our vendors who came from all over and were just so incredible...our sponsors who made it financially viable to hold the festival.... our small businesses who put their heart and soul into celebrating the Artfest theme.... our borough workers who partnered with us this year to manage the huge volume of trash that we make....our bands/musicians/dancers/drama performers, etc. -- you were fantastic.... our palette painters and artists who displayed their work in the gallery and on the street... the children's area crew who made the day magical for the little ones....Visitors who came and poured money into the local economy... Mother Nature/God above/Whatever you believe in who gave us the most perfect spectacular day.... Thank you thank you thank you.

And to our Artfest Team. A small team of about 8 - 10 people work all year on getting ready for Artfest. They design art. They build stages. They cut and seal the palettes. They send mailings. They go after sponsorships. They make a trillion Facebook posts. They hang signs. They collect raffle baskets. They pay the bills for tents and port-a-potties and insurance. And then they are joined by more volunteers who show up on Artfest day to do literally back breaking labor for 16 hours or so. Some of us are getting older. Many of us are tired. But we love this town and find absolute delight in all that Vandergrift becomes for one day as we celebrate arts, and community, and each other. Vandergrift is an art town, where creativity is celebrated and artists find a home.

If you think you would like to be part of this next year, please message us. We especially need some younger bodies able to do the heavy lifting, and put in the 20,000+ steps that we put in on Artfest day. But if you can't do that, there are other ways to be involved.

We'll take a little time off, but soon we'll be working on 2027. Get your costumes ready because we're planning on "An Artfest with a Renaissance Flair."

With the most gratitude and love for all of the strange encounters in the Grift that we experienced yesterday, and every day.

07/28/2026

OK Friends! Here you go! The link to the available palettes from the 2026 Artfest. Some of our most popular palettes don't make it to auction because the artists or sponsors elect to use a "buy-it-now" feature to retain their palettes. We can understand why they want to keep them! Buy-it-now donations, along with the auction donations, help to fund the annual Artfest Scholarship for a local student studying the arts at the college level. The auction will close in one week. Thank you for your support and happy bidding!

Bid on a one‑of‑a‑kind palette and help fund a scholarship for a local student of the arts! 🎨 Each piece in the Vandergrift Artfest 2026 Palette Auction is…