United hosts the 16th annual Taste of the Arts Festival, presented by 3Rivers Credit Union, on Saturday, August 24, 2024 beginning at 11 am at Arts Campus Fort Wayne. This free festival celebrates the rich diversity of arts and culture in Northeast Indiana.

The 2024 festival comprises four block parties of arts and culture programming. Activities include live performances of music, theatre, dance, and comedy, visual art for purchase, local food and drink vendors, interactive arts and cultural experiences for people of all ages, and buskers throughout the festival. 

Performances
Enjoy more than 70 live performances of music, theatre, dance, comedy, and fashion across 11 stages from 11am to 6pm. WBOI’s Meet the Music Concert begins at 5:30 on the Arts United Center Plaza stage and will be followed by Pyroscope Entertainment. 

Food and Drinks
Patrons can enjoy food and drinks onsite during the festival from 11am to 6pm from local food and beverage vendors. Purchases can be made directly with the vendors, most of which will accept both cash and credit cards.

Interactive Experiences
The Human Library offers the art of storytelling inside The History Center. People of diverse backgrounds are loaned as “books” to initiate a dialogue about challenging topics. This culture sharing activity lets patrons have a conversation with the book.

Artlink’s Figure Drawing club will have open figure drawing on the Berry Street lot near the Hall Center. Artists and non-artists alike are encouraged to join in the drawing.

NIPSCO STEAM Park features kid-friendly, hands-on activities based in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) by approximately 30 nonprofit organizations in Freimann Square.

VISUAL ART

HeART of the City Market
HeART of the City at Taste is a curated art market coordinated byFort Wayne HeART of the City featuring handmade wares and visual art by more than 40 creatives from Indiana. Shop the market from 11 am to 6 pm. 

Paint it Fresh: The Fort Wayne Plein Air Competition and Sale
The Northern Indiana Plein Air Artists Associations present Paint it Fresh: The Fort Wayne Plein Air Competition and Sale at Taste of the Arts 2024! Artists take their canvas around Fort Wayne, and the event culminates in a sale, judging, and awards during the festival.

Cinema Center
Enjoy films in the Main Theater of Cinema Center, as well as A Taste of the Hobnobben Film Festival between sets on the Spectator Lounge Stage. 

Purdue University Fort Wayne Visual Arts
PFW Department of Art and Design will host two virtual reality experiences in The History Center.

Fort Wayne Museum of Art, The History Center, and Artlink will have free admission during the festival. Fort Wayne Dance Collective will host free movement classes in their studios.

Please note that performance schedules and tasting vendors are subject to change.

For more information and updates about the 2024 festival, visit tastefw.org and follow Taste of the Arts Festival on Facebook and Instagram. Taste of the Arts is sponsored in 2024 by 3Rivers Credit Union, NIPSCO and the NiSource Foundation, AEP Foundation, ARC Document Solutions, Arcpoint Productions, Ambassador Enterprises, Ash Brokerage, AWS Foundation, Current Mechanical, Do it Best, DWD, Ferguson, Ingram Book Company, Parrish Leasing, PHP, Pizza Hut of Fort Wayne, Renewal by Andersen, Strahm Building Solutions, Sweetwater, UPS Store at The Village of Coventry, WANE, and WBOI.