Booker Creek Arts Festival

Booker Creek Arts Festival is a premiere four-day immersive arts festival and competition in the EDGE District of St. Petersburg, FL. It was created to energize and elevate the artists living and working in Florida, and promote the historic EDGE District. This arts festival invites Florida-based artists to submit their works for juried prizes totaling up to $50,000, including a $10,000 Best in Show award a $7,500 Award of Excellence, and ten $1,500 Merit Awards. Any 2D & 3D artwork that can be hung on a wall and meets other festival criteria is eligible. All artwork will be displayed inside festival venues including cafes, restaurants, boutiques, shops, hotels and residential buildings. Artists need not be present at the festival. Visitors enjoy this event for free, and have the opportunity to vote for their favorite piece for the People’s Choice Award. Festival activities also include glass blowing, mural painting, dance, children’s activities, live music, and other entertainment.

Booker Creek Arts Festival, from November 12-15, 2026, is the inaugural arts festival and competition in the EDGE District of St. Petersburg, Florida. It was created to energize and elevate the artists living and working in Florida, and to help promote the historic EDGE District’s cultural and economic landscape. 

This four-day festival will transform the District into an immersive arts experience celebrating creativity, culture, and community. Inspired by Booker Creek – the historic urban stream that winds through downtown St. Petersburg – the festival will feature juried works by hundreds of Florida artists displayed throughout (and inside of) participating venues. They will compete for awards totaling $50,000. Artists are not required to be present for the festival. Along with the call to artists, activities will include glass blowing, mural painting, dance, children’s activities, live music, and other entertainment.

A District Transformed by Art

During the festival, the EDGE District becomes a living art gallery. Instead of being confined to traditional museum walls, multiple artworks are displayed throughout the District in each venue, and those venues will include restaurants and cafés, boutiques and shops, hotels and residential buildings.

Visitors will enjoy this event for free. As they walk through the District for the event, they will stop at participating venues (listed on a map and indicated by signage at each location).  In each venue, they will see a variety of juried art by professional artists, and have the opportunity to vote for their favorite piece for the People’s Choice Award. 

This immersive setup blurs the line between everyday life and art, inviting residents and visitors alike to interact with creative works as they explore the EDGE District in downtown St. Petersburg.

The Arts Competition

At the heart of Booker Creek Arts Festival is a juried art competition with up to $50,000 in cash prizes. These are among the largest prize purses for an inaugural arts festival in the region. Awards include:

Booker Creek Best in Show – $10,000

Award of Excellence – $7,500

Merit Awards (10) – $1,500

People’s Choice Awards (2) – $2,500 – determined by visitor votes

Artists working in a wide range of media — from painting and photography to wall sculpture and mixed media — compete for these prizes, making it a vibrant showcase of contemporary Florida art. 

The opening ceremonies for this event will be held on Thursday evening, November 12.  The awards ceremony will be held on Saturday evening, November 14.

Youth Engagement

Booker Creek Arts Festival will also emphasize youth creativity with painting, drawing, and other artistic activities, and the NOMAD Art Bus.

Festival Experience & Programming

While the core of Booker Creek Arts Festival revolves around the art competition and exhibitions, the festival experience encompasses much more:

Artist talks and educational programs

Live music and performances

Community activities

Specialty events, including appearances by public officials, sports celebrities, and other notable influencers.

Why It Matters

Booker Creek Arts Festival is more than just a festival — it’s a community builder and cultural engine. This event will draw tourists, support artists’ careers, and contribute significant economic and social vitality to St. Petersburg, illustrating how the power of art can reshape and elevate the cultural environment. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet artists in person, learn about their creative processes, and purchase original works directly from participating creators. By bringing artists and audiences together, the festival will inspire creativity, strengthen community connections, and create lasting cultural and economic impact for the region.

“Our festival vision is to transform the EDGE District into a destination where art, culture, business, and community intersect in dynamic and unexpected ways,” said Leslie Curran, committee chair. 

Booker Creek Arts Festival Artist Application

Submissions for the Booker Creek Arts Festival are open July 15 – August 14, 2026. Submissions close at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, August 14, 2026. 

To apply for entry in the Booker Creek Arts Festival, artists must complete the online submission form for the festival on CaFÉ, submit three artworks and for each artwork, submit only one high-resolution image (at least 300dpi/1MB), and pay a $25 non-refundable entry fee. Each artist is limited to ONE online application/submission for the 2026 festival.

Submit Three Artworks, One Image of Each

The artist’s submission must include three single works of art. Each single work of art may consist of multiple components, but cannot merely be a grouping of components without a conceptual purpose. All decisions in this respect are at BCAF’s discretion. Images of the submitted artwork must represent the artwork submitted by the artist as accurately and professionally as possible.

Artists must NOT include images of themselves with the artwork or labels identifying themselves. 

Ownership

The artist must submit artwork created by themselves. The submission cannot be identical to a copy, reproduction, or only a slightly altered version of someone else’s existing imagery. If someone else’s imagery forms part of the artist’s submission, the artwork in the submission must be significantly different from the source imagery. In such a case of appropriation, the artist is required to provide a photo of the source imagery at the time of submission. 

Each of the artist’s submitted artworks must be the work solely of the individual artist and not of a collaborative group or collective.

Each of the artist’s submitted artworks must be in the medium in which the artist initially executed the work, as opposed to a reproduction or digital version of that work. 

The artist’s submission, and every single component of that submission, must be wholly-owned by the artist at the time of their submission through the duration of the 2026 Booker Creek Arts Festival. 

Artists may not submit artwork created solely by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) software. Artwork generated solely by AI software will not be considered as created by the submitting artist and will be disqualified. 

The artist’s submission may not infringe upon any third party’s proprietary rights and must not violate any intellectual property laws. 

Artwork Specifications

Artists may submit 2-D or 3-D artworks, provided each artwork can be hung on a wall. The submissions may be paintings, sculptures, ceramic works, textile works, photographs, drawings, mixed-media works, collages, or assemblages. However, digital-only works (i.e., those visible only in digital format), new media works, or video or film productions are not permitted.

Artists may not submit works-in-progress. 

Each of the artist’s submitted artworks must have been completed in or after 2023.

In the submission, the medium of the artwork must be described. For example, "oil on canvas," "mixed media," "photography," "print on paper," etc. 

In the submission, artists must provide dimensions in inches for 2-D works for both the artwork framed and unframed; if the work is to be exhibited unframed or the artist considers the frame to be part of the artwork, framed and unframed dimensions should be the same. The latter also applies to 2-D artwork with multiple components, for which the artist must provide the total space required to exhibit the work, including possible frames and the required space between individual components. 

In the submission, artists must provide dimensions for 3-D works in inches. 

While artists are asked to indicate in the submission whether their submission is a 2-D or 3-D artwork, BCAF reserves the right to change the designation. 

Artists whose submission has special requirements for exhibiting the work should explain these requirements clearly in the Special Requirements section of the submission. For example: “hang 2 feet from the floor.” Requests such as “gallery lighting on white walls” may not be feasible. BCAF cannot guarantee that such requirements will be met. 

If the artwork is chosen for the festival and is for sale during the festival, the artist must assign a price for the artwork. If the artwork consists of multiple components the artist must assign a single price for the entry as a whole. 

The artist’s submission must be available to be displayed in the Booker Creeks Arts Festival venue from the time of installation (beginning November 2) and through the entirety of the 2026 Booker Creek Arts Festival, Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15, 2026. Artwork may not be deinstalled before 10:00 a.m. EDT on Monday, November 16, 2026. 

The maximum amount of wall space available for a single piece of artwork is 6 feet high, 8 feet wide, and 12” deep unless otherwise agreed upon by BCAF during the submission period. All requests for exceeding the maximum amount of wall and/or installation space must be submitted to BCAF via:  artist@bookercreekarts.com for consideration by the close of the submission period on Friday, August 14, 2026.

ARTIST ELIGIBILITY 

The artist must have been a resident of Florida for at least six (6) consecutive months before the submission date. 

The artist must be eighteen (18) years of age or older on or before August 14, 2026.