Sarasota Festival of the Arts February 2027 (Paragon Festivals)

Join us for the 5th annual Sarasota Festival of the Arts, downtown Sarasota on February 27-28, 2027!

This event will be held at JD Hamel Park in beautiful downtown Sarasota. This boutique show features under 100 juried artists and welcomes an engaged, art-loving audience that supports a wide variety of mediums.

Patrons are inquisitive, inspired, and purchase all art mediums. The Sarasota Festival of the Arts remains a strong and growing fine art festival that has steady crowds from start to finish each year providing strong sales. 
  

 

                   Paragon events are always about:  Original  -  Quality  -  Boutique!

2026-2027 CALENDAR

Application deadline: December 27, 2026

Notification: December 28, 2026

Booth fee payment due: January 27, 2027 -NOTE: All booth fee payments are made directly to PARAGON - booth fee payments cannot be made through ZAPPLICATION. 

Friday, February 26, 2027:  Check-in and setup:  12pm - 6 pm 

Saturday, February 27, 2027: Check-in and setup continue: 6 am - 8 am;  Show hours: 10am 5pm 
 
Sunday, February 28, 2027:  Show hours: 10 am - 5 pm


ARTIST SERVICES:

• Overnight security, Friday and Saturday evening
• Friday afternoon setup
• Easy load-in and load-out
• Designated RV parking Friday and Saturday evening

MEDIA CATEGORIES:
 

• Ceramics:  All original clay and porcelain work, other than jewelry, is accepted in this category. No machine-made or mass-produced work is permitted. Each piece must be signed if multiple pieces of the same design are displayed.

• Digital Art: Original works created or altered using a computer. Limited editions only, signed and numbered on archival materials. Digital photographs belong in the Photography category.
• Drawing: Work using dry media (e.g., pencil, charcoal, pastel) or ink-based techniques (e.g., washes, pens).
• Fiber: All work that is crafted from fibers, including basketry, embroidery, weaving, leatherwork, tapestry, and paper-making. No machine tooling, machine-screened patterns, or other forms of mass production are permitted. No factory-produced wearable items may be exhibited, regardless of additional modifications or enhancements by the artist.

• Glass: Original work created in glass by the artist. Pressed glass and mass production are not permitted.

• Graphic & Printmaking: Print works for which the artist hand manipulated the plates, stones, or screens, which have been signed and numbered as a limited edition. Offset reproductions are not allowed. Printmakers are required to disclose both their creative and printmaking processes.

• Jewelry: All jewelry, whether the work is produced from metal, glass, clay, fiber, paper, plastic, or other materials, must be entered in this category. No commercial casts, molds, or production studio work is allowed.

• Metalwork: Includes all non-sculptural, non-jewelry works crafted from metal. No production studio work is allowed.

• Mixed Media: This category includes 2D and 3D works that incorporate more than one type of physical material to produce. Includes non-sculptural work as determined by the artist. Jewelry and photography are not considered mixed media.
• Painting: Work created using such materials as oils, acrylics, and watercolor is in this category. Reproductions are allowed; however, they must be signed and in limited editions.

• Photography: Photographic prints made from the artist's original image (e.g., film or digital) processed by the artist or under their direct supervision are included in this category. Images printed through software such as Photoshop are to be entered in this category, not in mixed-media or digital.
  All images are to be editioned with editions of each image, not exceeding 250.
• Sculpture: Three-dimensional original work done in any medium (e.g., bronze, stone, acrylic)
• Wood: Original works that are hand-tooled, machine-worked, turned, or carved are accepted in the wood category. 

 

JURY PROCESS

Jurying is conducted in-house by Paragon staff. This is a “blind” jury process which means artist scoring is based solely on the images presented without consideration of the artist's name, artist location, or reference to additional information such as websites. Juror decisions are based 70% upon the quality of work portrayed in the artwork images submitted for the jury process, and 30% on your booth presentation image. A booth image is mandatory. No images including the booth image should have the artist or any signage with the artist's name or business name visible and should represent the setup we will actually see at the event. Images are viewed simultaneously in a horizontal format, grouped by media.
 

IMAGE USAGE:

Accepted artists agree that Spada Graphix LLC (dba: Paragon Fine Arts Festivals) may use images for promotional, website, or publicity purposes.

STANDARDS and RULES:

1) All work must be original handcrafted work created by the artist(s) present at the event. Each artist guarantees the accuracy of the description of the works presented and the authenticity of the work as the creation of their own hands.

 

2) Work done by a production studio is not accepted.

 

3) All work must be designed and executed by the accepted artist.

 

4) No more than two (2) artists may collaborate on work. Both must be included in the application. Both must be present at the festival for the duration of the event.

 

5) Artists must be present with the work for the entire duration of the arts festival. Representatives, including spouses and family members, may not attend in lieu of the artist(s).

 

6) Artists are required to show photo identification (in English) at check-in to ensure identity and compliance.

 

7) Artists may only show work in categories and bodies of work selected by the jury.

 

8) All work exhibited must be in the category applied to and exhibit the quality and body of work that was shown in the images used in the jury process.

PROHIBITED:

 

No t-shirts, commercially manufactured items, items that employ the use of commercially available molds, velvet paintings, decoupage, or plants. Traditional crafts such as soaps, wax media (e.g., candles), scented oils, and homemade food items are not items juried into our fine art events. Please email us if you need clarification before applying. The Festival Committee reserves the right to exclude work that does not conform to show standards.

SALES TAX: Sales tax in Sarasota is currently 7.00%. A video is available online from the Florida DOR on how to complete Sales & Use Tax Returns at: http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/training/dr15_new/safari3/index.html?dhtmlActivation=inplace

APPLICATION FEE: $ 30.00

SINGLE booth fee:  $ 495.00
NOTE:  booth fee paid directly to Paragon Festivals - NOT to ZAPP

DOUBLE booth fee:  $ 990.00
NOTE:  booth fee paid directly to Paragon Festivals - NOT to ZAPP

CORNER fee:  Additional $100
NOTE:  booth fee paid directly to Paragon Festivals - NOT to ZAPP

All booth payments made after February 1 will be an additional $50. 


DISPLAY SPACE:  Upon acceptance, artists desiring corner or double spaces or that require electrical connection must specify and pay any applicable fees at the time payment is submitted. Specific space requests will be assigned based on the date payment is received. We will attempt to accommodate all reasonable requests.

DISPLAY SURFACE:  Pavement/brick: no drilling into or anchoring to the pavement is allowed; tents must be anchored by free-standing weights only.

CANCELLATION:  must be in writing, and submitted to our office by email.

 

TIMELINE for CANCELLATION and REFUND

• If cancellations are received from 8 to 30 days prior to the event, you will receive a refund as follows:
  • 50% refund, OR
  • 100% credit towards another Paragon event of your choosing; however, you must apply to and be juried into that event. 
  • Credits are good for 2 years after the date given. 

• Cancellations made within 7 days of the event will not receive either a refund or credit. No exceptions.