Arts Picnic - 2026 (47th Annual)

WELCOME TO THE 2026 47th ANNUAL ARTS PICNIC ONLINE APPLICATION!
The Greeley Arts Picnic is a Northern Colorado tradition, on the last full weekend of July with handmade arts and crafts, music and performance, food, beer and fun! Voted best Festival in Greeley 2025 by the Greeley Tribune, it is a Northern Colorado favorite! 

• 2026 is an exciting year for the Arts Picnic as it is a part of the larger CULTURE POP event held in Downtown Greeley July 23-July 26!
• Culture Pop begins on Thursday, July 23 with talks, classes and workshops at numerous downtown destinations. Friday artists set up in the park but at night the downtown Plaza will host the Arts Picnic Kickoff Concert, which vendors are invited to attend. Saturday is all about Lincoln Park, as the Farmers’ Market on the north side starts at 8am, followed by the Arts Picnic at 9am and more music in the evening! Sunday is the last day of Arts Picnic as community art projects will also come to fruition and the festival winds down at 4pm. Culture Pop promotes art and culture of all kinds and gives back to the community, fostering new generations of art lovers.
• The Arts Picnic in Lincoln Park will include 150+ artists and crafters booths, food trucks, kids’ activities, a beer tent, and stages with local performers and musicians. Expected attendance is approximately 20,000 people throughout the event.
• No commercial dealers or mass-produced products.

Arts Picnic takes place July 24-26, with load in on July 24, and the Art Picnic festival hours on Saturday the 25 from 9am-5pm and Sunday the 26 from 10am-4pm. 
Arts Picnic is brought to the public by the City of Greeley.
Contact and Info:
Artist relations: Johanna Mueller, johanna.mueller@greeleygov.com     
Event manager: Aaron Mitchell, aaron.mitchell@greeleygov.com
www.artspicnic.com

Artist Amenities:

• Access to air-conditioned artist lounge room in the Recreation Center (across the street from Lincoln Park) with drinks, snacks, and charging station, clean indoor bathrooms, cold water bottle fill up
• Artist booth listing in the official Arts Picnic/Culture Pop program
• Website listing with your choice of link to FB/IG or website
• Digital Press Pack for your social media, website, newsletters etc.
• Booth sitters by request
• Volunteers circling the park with water and snacks
• Identification Lanyard and Booth Number Sign
• Artist Parking

Marketing:

• Devoted webpage at www.artspicnic.com
• Blog and social post feature on Visit Greeley
• Heavily promoted on our Facebook page @GreeleyFestivals
• Partnership promotions with Downtown Greeley and Greeley Creative District
• Local and Northern Colorado radio and print ads
• Program and flyer distribution in Greeley and Northern Colorado

Application requirements:
5 photos and 1 booth shot.

• Do not include any signage or identification with your artist or company name. Required by the blind jury for fairness. Applicants who include their name, self or signage will be disqualified.
• Do not include blurry images, superimposed text, or AI images.
• Artists must jury into their chosen category, and their work needs to accurately represent that media category.  The jury may decide to change your selected category, if accepted, to better represent your artwork.

The following items are NOT eligible for sale as arts and crafts items at the Arts Picnic:

• Commercially manufactured items that are not significantly altered by the artist or crafter

• Imported & resale items
• Kits & ceramics cast from a commercial mold
• Face painting (Due to returning invited vendors)
• ​​Artwork reproductions or copyrighted graphics (logos, etc)
• A piece may incorporate some commercially produced parts, but the design and execution of the work must be the product of the exhibiting artist’s skill. Alteration and enhancement by the artist and the handcrafted components must dominate the commercial components. Other factors in the jury process are explanation of process and cohesive media and concept throughout their booth display. 

Categories include:

• Body and Fit to Eat: Handmade small batch soap, lotion and body products. Handmade small batch edible products such as candy, chocolate, popcorn, spices, canned fruits, jams, jellies, honey, etc.
• Ceramics: Original clay and pottery work included, functional or sculptural. No machine or mass-produced work, or kit molds. 
• Clothing and Fiber Arts: Work made from fibrous materials, wearable or non-wearable including leatherwork, baskets, embroidery, quilts, weaving, macrame, bags and purses. No mass produced or factory items.
• Digital Art: Original work made with the computer as the main tool. AI images are not allowed in Digital Art category. Highly altered original photos may be considered digital art, otherwise traditional photographs taken with a digital camera would apply in the photography category.
• Drawing and Graphics: Includes original drawings with pen, pencil, charcoal or other dry media, as well as original printmaking techniques such as screenprint, block print, lithography, etching and monotype.
• Glass: Glass work created by molding, casting, blowing or kiln formed. Stained glass, etched glass, or engraved glass. Glass jewelry should apply in the jewelry category.
• Jewelry: All original jewelry made of metal, stone, clay, paper, fiber or other materials. No mass produced jewelry, casts or buy-sell. 
• Metalwork and Sculpture: Functional or non-functional artworks made with metal or metal alloy, or primarily metal. Metal jewelry should apply in the jewelry category.
• Mixed Media: Two- and three-dimensional work that includes more than one type of material in their creation. Mixed media is a category, not a workaround to show a variety of categories in your booth.
• Painting: Original artwork created with oil, acrylic, watercolor, and other paintable media. 
• Photography: Original digital or film photography, processed or printed by the artist. NO AI photos. If photos are highly altered or filtered, please apply in the Digital Art category.
• Wood: Original artworks made of wood or primarily made of wood. Hand-tooled, hand-turned, hand-carved, chain sawed, burned, etched or wood furniture.

Booth Fees: Please note booth fees will be going up in 2027. Take advantage of the rates in 2026!
1- Single Space (10'x10')-$150
2 - Double Space (10'x20')-$280
3- Triple Space (10'x30')-$410
*Application fee, non-refundable - $15
*Electricity (optional) - $50

• If invited, you will be able to ACCEPT or REJECT your invitation. Upon acceptance, you can pay for your booth fee. The booth fee is due by 6/10/2026 .  
• After you pay for your booth, you will be able to submit a booth request. Acceptance emails will be sent 5/10/2026. Only booth requests submitted through Zapplication will be honored (no emails please), in the order they are received. So, the sooner you submit your payment, the sooner you can choose your spot! 
• Preview the 2026 Booth Map HERE, or scroll down to the bottom of application and click "EVENT SITE MAP" button on the right

Prior participation in the Arts Picnic does not guarantee acceptance into this or future years. Due to the large number of applications processed, no conversation will be entered into regarding the decision of the jury. All Jury decisions are final.

On Site Requirements and Sales:

• Artists must check in prior to set-up at designated check-in station where they will be given their artist packet including parking and loading pass. Artists who fail to check in may be ticketed by parking enforcement.
• Artwork on display after the opening of the Arts Picnic will be reviewed by the committee.
• Any participant whose display includes work that is not consistent with the work submitted for jurying will be required to withdraw the work in question from the show without refund of booth fee.
• Artists must provide their own 10x10 tent, setup, and point of sale system.
• Artists must be present and their booth open to the public throughout the exhibition hours: 9am-5pm Saturday and 10am-4pm Sunday.
• Artists retain 100% of their sales revenue and are solely responsible for paying taxes to the City of Greeley and State of Colorado. More information will follow on how to file if accepted.
• Artists must keep all exhibiting items within their booth. Items should not block pathways or the entrance or exit to and from other booths. You may be asked to move items if they are outside your 10x10 allotted space.
• Electricity will only be available in certain areas of the park and is only available to artists who pay and request it. Charging station for devices will be available in the artist lounge in the Recreation Center.
• Booth space may be shared if both artists are accepted. A Zapplication entry is still required for a shared booth, by each person. A two-person team producing a single product may qualify as a single exhibitor. Please email with your desire to share a booth as two separate vendors or if you are submitting as an arts organization: johanna.mueller@greeleygov.com. Arts Non-Profits will be given an alternate application form and do not need to apply through Zapplication.
• Booths must be weighted with a suggested minimum of 40lbs per tent leg.

Other Artwork Rules:

• Digital reproductions are any work of art copied and printed by photo, scanner, etc. then printed onto paper or product through inkjet or laser printer, or other commercial process. Please limit digital reproductions to less than 40% of your booth inventory so the focus is on handmade art and processes.  (Original Photography prints, and digital art whose only output is printed are exempt.)
• Only complete applications will be considered by the Jury.

Important Dates
February 13: Application Opens
April 20: Application deadline
May 10: Acceptance confirmation, booth selection open
June 10: Deadline to accept, deadline for booth selection
July 24: Early vendor check-in (12-2pm) *You will need approval from Johanna Mueller prior, johanna.mueller@greeleygov.com
July 24: Vendor check-in (2-7pm) 
July 25: Vendor check-in (7am) ARTS PICNIC! (9am-5pm)
July 26: ARTS PICNIC! (10am-4pm)

Additional Information

• No dogs (except service animals) are allowed in Lincoln Park by City Ordinance.
• The City of Greeley reserves the right to cancel the Arts Picnic due to Acts of God, weather, or other unforeseen events that will jeopardize the health and safety of the public. There is no rain reschedule date.
• We encourage you to demonstrate your art so that the public may observe your skill and process, if relevant.

Security: Overnight security will be onsite Friday and Saturday nights. All artist vendors need to be completely packed by Sunday at 8pm. Participating artists exhibit at their own risk.  The Greeley Arts Picnic and City of Greeley and its representatives and staff are not responsible for any theft, damage, or weather-related instances that may cause loss of artwork, products, or display materials, or booths. 

Insurance: Although not required, we recommend all artists and vendors carry insurance for their work. Artist policies are available for single or multiple events at ACT Insurance.com.   Artist and Craft Show Liability Insurance | ACT Insurance


 

Refunds: After payment, no booth space refunds will be made. In the event of an emergency, written requests for future year credit will be considered at the discretion of the Arts Picnic.

Weather: The Arts Picnic will take place rain or shine. It is the artists’ responsibility to protect their booth and its contents.  In the event of day-of threatening weather, we will do our best to alert artists and vendors with advance notice as your safety is our priority. Unfortunately, if the show must be struck early or cancelled due to weather we cannot offer any refunds.

For questions about refunds, contact Aaron Mitchell, email aaron.mitchell@greeleygov.com.
More information at https://greeleygov.com/activities/arts-picnic