PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release

NORTHAMPTON, MA

Event Date: October 7-9, 2023

Celebrating its 29^th year, Northampton’s Paradise City Arts Festival has become New England’s cultural, creative, culinary, and leaf-peeping destination.

Meet 220 outstanding artists and master craft makers who will show and sell original works in ceramics, painting, decorative fiber, art glass, furniture, jewelry, metal, mixed media, photography, sculpture, wearable art and woodworking.

Northampton, Massachusetts

The 29^th Annual Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton, Massachusetts, held at the historic Three County Fairgrounds, heralds the start of the fall foliage season, drawing loyal attendees from all over the Northeast. This expansive showcase for the arts features three airy carpeted Exhibition Buildings, plus regional food and live music under the Festival Dining Tent, the themed exhibit “Two X Two”, a silent auction to benefit the Northampton Chamber of Commerce, and an array of large-scale outdoor sculpture and garden pieces. Most importantly, it’s all about the artists, traveling to Northampton from nearly 20 states. Each one has a story to tell, a skill to share and a passion for their work.

One aspect of the Paradise City Arts Festival that really sets it apart is the enormous range of the work on display. The Directors curate for variety: each artist’s booth has a unique viewpoint, and the prices for their work may start at $20 and top out at $10,000. A blend of fine art and fine craft provides a synergy that can inspire collectors to look at something new. Attendees who come expecting to see just functional crafts find themselves inspired by the work of painters, sculptors, and printmakers. Paradise City is unusual in that it has successfully integrated fine art and handmade craft into one show where both are taken seriously, and one can always find an affordable memento from the show to bring home.

The 12,000 Square-Foot Festival Dining Tent

Northampton knows food! It’s a place where gourmet fare is served up daily in dozens of restaurants — a place where “fresh” means what you’re eating might have been grown nearby on some of the best agricultural land in the world. Get a sampling of Northampton’s vibrant restaurant scene under the Festival Dining Tent. From all-American locavore burgers and fries to exotic curries, savory soups, fresh-picked salads, yummy sandwiches, and homemade desserts, you may want to graze your way through the tent several times. 

The Craft Cocktail Bar in the Dining Tent has a great menu of signature cocktails, beer, and wine to add to your dining experience. Sip a Manhattan Meets Northampton while tapping your toes to the sounds of fine local musicians, a different band every day.

Special Themed Exhibit: TWO x TWO

The concept of two, in all the forms it takes, is nearly mystical; it is the simplest grouping that takes us outside of ourselves, the simplest option to compare, the simplest to contrast.

In art and craft, we see paired objects, one never seen without the other. Think salt and pepper shakers, or bedside tables. We see opposites dueling in contrast: light and dark, big and small, old and new. We see collaborations in their purest forms, in partnerships between married couples or partners. We are naturally drawn to pairs as a way to understand the world, to tackle its challenges, explain its mysteries, season its food. We have two eyes, two ears, two arms, two legs. Only one nose, but even that has two nostrils. We perceive the world through sets of two, through pairs and twins and diptychs and couples. It is so fundamental a theme that artists may not even realize they are using it; we naturally gravitate toward narratives and groupings of two. Experience the power of two. It is a number we are, just barely, capable of comprehending.

Silent Art Auction to Benefit the Northampton Chamber of Commerce

In support of the hometown of Paradise City’s flagship show, this fall’s traditional Silent Art Auction will benefit the Chamber of Commerce of the delightful City of Northampton. Northampton possesses a unique downtown “walking Main Street”, filled with independently owned one-of-a-kind shops, galleries, restaurants, antique stores, nightclubs, and theaters. Paradise City Arts Festival, by holding this year’s auction to benefit the Chamber, helps our host city build on its aura of a great cultural destination. Paradise City’s exhibiting artists and the community have generously donated hundreds of beautiful items to be auctioned each day of the event. 100% of the proceeds from the auction will benefit the Chamber and the Downtown Northampton Association. Paradise City has raised nearly half a million dollars over the years to benefit regional non-profits.

Fast Facts

What:
29th Annual Paradise City Arts Festival
220 competitively juried artists exhibiting original works in ceramics, painting, decorative fiber, art glass, furniture, jewelry, metal, mixed media, photography, large-scale sculpture, wearable art and woodworking.

Where:
In three well-ventilated Exhibition Buildings connected by covered walkways, outdoors along the Sculpture Promenade, and under the Festival Dining Tent, rain or shine, at the 3 County Fairgrounds: 54 Old Ferry Road, off Rt. 9 in Northampton, MA

When:
October 7, 8 & 9, 2023
Saturday, 10am-6pm · Sunday, 10am-5pm; Monday, 10am-4pm

Admission:
Adults: online $14, at box office $16. Students: $8. Three-Day Pass: $18.
12 and under free. Free Parking! Tickets available online or at the box office.
Discount coupons and group tickets available online.
Free full color program with admission.

And More!
Sensational food and music under the Festival Dining Tent • Northampton Chamber of Commerce Benefit Art Auction • Special exhibit: TWO x TWO • Art installations along the Sculpture Promenade.

Information: Call 800.511.9725 or visit: www.paradisecityarts.com

Regional Exhibiting Artist Lists

Paradise City offers illustrated listings of exhibitors from various regions, along with contact information for interviews and artist websites. If you plan to feature a specific Paradise City artist, please get in touch with us to obtain high-resolution images to accompany your story. Lists of exhibiting artists from other regions of the country are also available.

Western Massachusetts

Pioneer Valley

Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Connecticut

Vermont and New Hampshire