Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival 2026

Deadline: Apply from Dec. 1, 2025 until midnight, Mar. 20, 2026

Location: Ketchum, Idaho, Atkinson Park (900 3rd Ave. North, Ketchum, ID 83340)
Dates: August 14-16, 2026
Application Window: Dec. 1, 2025 - Mar. 20, 2026
$35 non-refundable application fee
 
The 57th annual Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival will be held on the grass lawn of Atkinson Park in the beautiful Rocky Mountain town of Ketchum, Idaho. The event will be August 14-16, 2026, with artist load-in on August 13. It will include 120 professional artists invited through a jury process, food vendors, a picnic area with live music, and a children's activity area. Typical gross sales are around $650,000 annually. Around 6,000 patrons usually attend over the 3-day event. Operating hours are 10am-5pm Friday and Saturday, and a 4pm end on Sunday. There is an artist happy hour on Friday, an artist breakfast reception on Saturday, and on-field vehicle access for load-in. No commercial agents are allowed, and reprints are limited. See official rules below. The Ketchum/Sun Valley area is a hugely popular tourist destination in both the winter and summer, with tons of outdoor activities and cultural events in town that attract out-of-town visitors. In addition, the area has seen a large influx of new residents that contribute mightily to the area's popularity and arts scene. 

For more event information, www.sunvalleyartsandcraftsfestival.com
For more area information, including lodging, www.visitsunvalley.com
 

Goals for the Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival

• To honor artists and their craft by providing a welcoming venue to showcase and sell their art
• Provide a robust PR and marketing plan to draw audiences to the Festival
• Provide an opportunity for our community, both locals and visitors, to learn about the national arts scene by interacting directly with artists and makers
• Provide attendees with an opportunity to interact with artists directly, and to learn about and see new techniques, media and innovative work
• Provide free admission, and remain one of the anchor events of the summer season in the Wood River Valley, while providing significant positive economic impact for the community with 6,000 engaged attendees

Artist Services

• Scheduled & staggered set-up and tear-down times
• Vehicles are permitted on the show field very near the booths for load in and break down
• Full-color festival program
• Security provided from the end of the show each evening until the following morning and during break down
• Free booth-sitters
• Free and convenient parking
• Artist Breakfast on Saturday morning
• Best of Show Award, entailing an automatic entry the following year, serving on the jury, and a $1,000 cash prize.
• Best of Category Award winners receive automatic acceptance the following year
• Distance and space between booths

2026 Artist Calendar
December 1: Application becomes available
March 20: Application deadline
April 2: Notifications sent via email
May 11: Artist Confirmation & Booth Fee due
June 12: Booth fee refund deadline for withdrawals
July: Final instructions and details are emailed to artists
August 13: Artist registration and set-up
August 14-16: 57th Annual Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival 
Festival Hours: Friday & Saturday 10am–5pm, Sunday 10am–4pm

Contact Information:
Festival Director, Art Daves: 208-720-5095 / artists@sunvalleyartsandcraftsfestival.com
Mailing Address: Altitude Events Group, LLC, P.O. Box 2942, Hailey, ID 83333
Shipping Address: Altitude Events Group, LLC, 820 South Main St, #2942, Hailey, ID 83333
Website: www.sunvalleyartsandcraftsfestival.com
 
Show Size

• 120 Booth Spaces Total (includes a limited amount of doubles)
• Approximately 10-12 returning artists from 2025 (category winners)
• Remaining slots will be filled through our jury process

Application Fees, Payments & Cancellation Information

• $35 application fee required of all applicants
• Jury application fee is non-refundable
• Artists are to apply on-line through Zapplication. Booth fees also will be collected via ZAPP.
• Booth fee is due upon acceptance, deposited upon receipt. A booth refund (less a 3% processing fee) will be given if written notification is received by June 12, 2026. Booth fee refunds are non guaranteed after June 12th. 

Application Information
Altitude Events Group, LLC uses the Zapplication System for processing all applications. To apply to our show please visit www.zapplication.org. Artists may apply in multiple categories. For more information on this process please visit www.zapplication.org or email us at artists@sunvalleyartsandcraftsfestival.com
 
Application Images

• PLEASE: remove, hide, blur or photoshop, your name, your image, and/or your studio name from all photos submitted, including the image titles, so that we can jury them anonymously.
• Six images must be submitted.
• Five images should feature individual pieces that accurately represent the body of work to be exhibited; work shown in the images must be representative of current work and no more than five years old.
• One booth shot is required and should be representative of your presentation and work to be displayed. Booth image will be used to determine scale of work, balance and overall presentation. If you do not have a booth shot, it is recommended that you arrange your work in a room, on a table, etc - that represents how you would intend to display your work at the Festival, and submit that shot. 
• Each set of six images submitted by an artist is viewed as a group. Each group of images is viewed by category in the order submitted to ZAPP.

Jury Criteria
The jury is asked to evaluate applications by following these general guidelines:

• Original thought and intent
• Strong overall creative concept
• Excellence in craftsmanship
• Consistency of style and presentation

Who makes up our jury?
The jury consists of a panel of six or more local professional artists and collectors. Each year, at least two-thirds of the panel rotates to ensure objectivity and a fresh festival annually. The same jurors who judge the festival applicants are also asked to judge Best of Show and Best of Category Awards during the Festival. Jurors are not compensated for their time, financially or otherwise, but modest charitable donations are made in their names to charities of their choice.

Jury Process

• Prior to scoring the artists in a category, jurors first see all the applications within that category.
• Then during the jury, the six images are viewed simultaneously on a computer, and the description of materials and technique submitted in each artist’s application are reviewed. The description is an important tool for sharing unique qualities of the pieces represented and the artist's creative process.
• An overall score is awarded on a scale of 1-5 for quality, creativity, originality and craftsmanship.
• Local artists (those residing in Blaine County, ID) receive one bonus point during the jury.
• Scores are then totaled for one cumulative score per artist, with 30 (5 points x 6 jurors) being the highest possible score (or 31 for a local artist)
• Jurors are instructed to score independently and they do not discuss their scores with other jurors during the scoring process.
• After round 1, the top scorers advance to round 2, where these applications are reviewed again, discussed openly and thoroughly, with invitations then assigned.
• Round 2 produces a list of 120 artists who will be invited to show at the Festival. A wait list is also derived in the event any invited artists can't show. 

LOCAL ARTISTS: All local artists, those living in Blaine County (as full time residents), will automatically receive one point before jurying to encourage participation and help create a positive environment for local artists.
 
JURY EXEMPTIONS: The Best of Show and Best of Category winners from the previous year are exempt from the jury process. The Best of Show winner is invited to participate as a jury member for the following year. The Festival Director has final discretion on accepted artists.

• Artists in 12 fine art and fine craft disciplines are welcome to apply.
• Artists agree to be present during all show hours, all three days.
• Work shown can only be made by their own hands in only the category in which they are accepted.
• Exhibited work should not be older than five years unless prior permission has been received from the Festival Director and all work should be for sale.
• No political or social statements & commentary are permitted in the artwork.
• If possible, artists should refrain from showing pieces in their booth that contain nudity, since this is a family event. 
• No commercial agents, dealers or manufacturers may enter. Kits, tumbled stones, embellished objects, manufactured objects, imported objects, mass-produced goods, exhibitor posters, edible items, candles and personal care items are unacceptable for sale during the Festival.
• Offset printed reproductions cannot make up more than 20% of a booth and must be labeled as such with a clear definition of the reproduction process displayed and available for the general public.  Any artist displaying reproductions as their primary item for sale will be asked to remove reproductions or to leave the Festival. 
• All artists must disclose materials and processes used in on-site signage. A standardized format for artist signage can be found at www.naia-artists.org. If two or more persons collaborate to produce original work, all must be identified on the application.
• No more than one assistant may be in the booth with an artist at any time.
• No raffles of an artist's work, nor any other kind of raffle, are allowed.
• After the Festival, all artists are required to pay both local and Idaho State taxes on their sales (currently 2% Ketchum + 6% Idaho). The State of Idaho requires on-line submission of taxes, while the City of Ketchum will collect taxes on site on that Sunday. Detailed instructions will be provided to all participating artists.  

Categories
 
Artists may choose only one category per application. However artists are welcome to apply in multiple categories. While a balanced show that showcases fine art and diversity of media is a principal objective, Altitude Events Group, LLC. does not establish a quota in any category.  Please review category definitions carefully.
 
CERAMICS: Original functional and/or non-functional works created by the artist from clay, porcelain, stoneware, and/or earthenware. If multiple pieces of the same design are displayed, each piece must be signed. No machine made or mass produced work is permitted. Painted greenware is not eligible.
 
DRAWING:  Includes works created by the artist using dry media including chalk, charcoal, pastels, pencil, wax crayons, etc., or from fluid medium of inks and washes applied by pen or brush.
 
FIBER: All works crafted from fibers including leather, paper, basketry, embroidery, weaving, tapestry and papermaking. Machine tooling, machine screened patterns or miscellaneous forms of mass production are NOT permitted. No factory produced wearable items, regardless of additional modification or enhancement by the artists, will be accepted.
 
GLASS: Works that have been crafted via glass blowing, molding, or casting, as well as works that have been kiln-formed. Works may be etched or engraved. Glass works may be functional or purely decorative in design.   No form of mass production is permitted.
 
JEWELRY: All jewelry, whether the work is produced from metal, glass, clay, fiber, paper, plastic or other materials.  No commercial casts, molds, mass production, or production studio work allowed.
 
METALWORK: Functional and 2D decorative, non-sculptural metal work. All sculptural work should be submitted within the sculpture category.
 
MIXED MEDIA: Includes 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional work that incorporates more than one type of material in their production.
 
PAINTING: Oil, acrylic, watercolor, tempera, etc.
 
PHOTOGRAPHY: Includes all photographic processes which begin with a camera lens. Photographers are required to disclose their creative process and printing process. All pieces must be signed, numbered and dated, in a limited edition. Prints must have been processed by the artist or under artist’s direct supervision. Prints must meet “archival quality” standards.  
 
PRINTMAKING: Prints are defined as multiple originals where the artists hand has manipulated the plates, stone, blocks, composite reliefs, or screens and which are properly signed and numbered in limited editions. Printmakers are required to disclose their creative and printing processes.
 
SCULPTURE: 3-dimensional original work done in any medium.
 
WOOD: Original hand-tooled, machine worked, turned or carved.

Booth Sizes, Fees and Other Booth Information

• 10 x 10 booth = $450, $500 for a corner
• 10 x 20 booth = $1000 (all double booths are on corners)
• Power is not available for artist booths
• White and neutral colored tents only. Please notify the Festival Director with any unusual circumstances.
• Artists are responsible for bringing, setting up, manning and tearing down their tent.
• Artists are not allowed to share a booth

Application refunds are not refundable. A booth refund (less a 3% processing fee) for all booth sizes, will be given if written notification by the artist is received by the Festival by June 12, 2026. Booth fee refunds are non guaranteed after June 12th.