The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will celebrate is celebrating its 50th year Thursday through Sunday, and while it will likely draw close to 150,000 visitors to Downtown State College, it’s not the only festival in the region this weekend.
In addition to Lemont Fest Friday through Sunday and Philipsburg Heritage Days, going on through Sunday, the People’s Choice Festival in Boalsburg will itself attract more than 100,000 visitors to the PA Miltary Museum grounds in Boalsburg once again this year.
Started in 1993 with about 50 vendors and a handful of food stands and live entertainment acts, this year’s People’s Choice Festival will host 200 artists, about two dozen food vendors, and 40 live acts on two stages from Thursday through Sunday.
It’s not a competition with the Arts Festival downtown, but another option and another big summertime event for the Centre Region.
“First, I want to say that we’re not in competition with Arts Fest,” People’s Choice committee member Sandie Biddle told the Centre County Gazette’s official festival guide. “Having both events at the same time is a wonderful boon to the Centre Region’s economy. They are both getting people to come to Centre County. But, what we offer at the People’s Choice festival is an affordable, family-friendly alternative to the event downtown.”
People’s Choice is free to attend, with local artists, food vendors, music and kids activities going on each day of the festival, which is open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday.
A wide range of creations by local artists will be on display and for sale each day. For a full list of styles, artists, and where to find them at the festival, click here.
Whatever your musical tastes, your bound to find performers you will enjoy among the more than three dozen acts performing throughout the weekend. Acts include blues, country, rock, jazz and more and feature popular local bands such as Pure Cane Sugar, JR & Sharon, Velveeta and many more. The full schedule of live music for each day can be found here.
People’s Choice is a family affair, and there are plenty of kids activities as well throughout the weekend. From a bigger-than-ever, interactive Kids Science Museum to a petting zoo, face-painting to Character Day and much more, there are plenty of things to see and do to keep kids of all ages busy all weekend. Check out the schedule for kids activities here.
The festival also offers a taste for almost any palate with food vendors selling a huge variety of foods such as crab cakes, pierogies, sausage, gyros, pizza, barbecue, cajun and many more. A list of food vendors can be found here. There will also be a specialty food tent with Pennsylvania food producers showcasing a wide range of locally-made edibles.
A half dozen Pennsylvania wineries, including local producers Seven Mountains, Happy Valley Vineyard and Mount Nittany Vineyard, will offer tastings and bottles for sale.
Check out the Centre County Gazette’s Official Guide to the 24th Annual People’s Choice Festival for more on this year’s happenings.
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