The free outdoor arts festival will now be held downtown, outside of City Hall, under the JFX expressway and throughout nearby parts of the city.
It’s just another recent change for what has been called the biggest free outdoor arts festival in the country.
After years of being held in August– with the exception of 2023– the city’s arts organizers announced in December that Artscape will be held on the Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in 2025. That move potentially upsets longtime festivals like Sowebo Arts and Musical Festival and Maryland Deathfest — a heavy metal festival.
“Artscape is not just about celebrating art, it's about shaping Baltimore's future,” said Mayor Brandon Scott during a Friday morning news conference.
Scott said the location change is part of his Downtown Rise initiative, which aims to reinvigorate downtown. When asked further questions about “why downtown”, Scott said that decades ago, the first Artscape festival was meant to bring investment to the Mount Vernon area.
“We also know that now we have to start to think about the downtown core that needs that uplifting,” said Scott.
Mainstage performances will be held on the War Memorial Plaza outside of City Hall. Tonya Miller-Hall, the mayor’s senior advisor for arts and culture, said that the area under the JFX Expressway — where the Sunday farmer’s market is held — will be transformed with new mural and light installations. Those will be built to last, she said, so that “the Farmers’ Market is a more inviting experience for our everyday shoppers.”
Downtown Baltimore is a complicated area. On one hand, real estate reports say that vacancy in downtown office buildings is rising faster than ever in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic but on the other hand, Baltimore Downtown Partnership reports that the area is the city’s fastest growing neighborhood. Baltimore Downtown Partnership President Shelonda Stokes has reported that 41,000 residents live within a one-mile radius of the Central Business District.
Downtown is also the gateway to the Inner Harbor, where a nearly one-billion dollar redevelopment of Harborplace, led by real estate investment firm MCB Real Estate, in the coming years.
City leaders hope Artscape can be part of that area’s new identity.
The decision to move the festival footprint has buy-in from community partners in Mount Vernon.
In an emailed statement to WYPR, a University of Baltimore spokesperson says that the institution is “grateful” for the mayor’s decision to move the festival.
“The University of Baltimore, along with MICA and other midtown institutions, has been working with city officials on the major components of Artscape, including dates and locations. Our concern was the potential for traffic congestion in midtown, given that the event's announced time frame coincides with that of several graduation ceremonies,” wrote UB spokesperson Chris Hart.
Favorites like Kidscape and Artscape After Dark are also slated to return in 2025.
Saturday Mainstage Headliners:
Little Brother
Tweet
Fantasia
Sunday Mainstage Headliners:
Tanner Addel
Robin Thicke
