Live Music
Music is an important feature of the Ogden Arts Festival and is staged prominently outside on Fountain Plaza. Selected musicians will play a 45 minute acoustic set beginning on the hour both Friday (Noon to 8 pm) and Saturday (10 am to 6 pm.) Check our line up (to be announced May 1) for their schedule, photos, and web links for each musician/group.
Plein Air Exhibit
View paintings created in the days leading up to the festival. These beautiful images of Ogden are available for purchase or try your luck with a silent auction bid. Final call for bidding will be Saturday at 5 pm.
Kids ARTivities
Lot's of fun things for kids to do.
Plein Air Comp
Plein Air has always, been and remains, a featured event during the Ogden Arts Festival at Union Station. In our 10th year of competition artists will compete for $5000 in award money and arts lovers will have the chance to view, bid on, or purchase, newly painted images of Historic Ogden and the beauty of the surrounding area.
Stroll Among the Art
Forty juried artists booths surround Fountain Plaza and continue inside the Grand Lobby. Coming in April, links to all artists selected for participation in the festival.
Quick Draw Comp
The Quick Draw Competition on Saturday June 8th. Watch artists paint within the festival boundaries. By early afternoon all returned submissions are on exhibit in the Grand Lobby of Union Station and available for immediate purchase or silent auction with the final call for bids at 4pm.
About the Festival
Always the second weekend in June--this is the official kick off to summer events in downtown Ogden. Initially established to feature Ogden's art scene, the Festival has gained the interest of regional artists of all mediums.
The two day Festival includes:
- Forty juried fine artists' booths
- Live music and wandering performers
- Fun free ARTivities for kids
- Interactive art and performance activities with Nurture the Creative Mind
- Plein Air Competition and Silent Auction
- Quick Draw Competition and Silent Auction
Ogden Arts Festival is a juried fine arts festival, produced by gallery owners, artists, and local art-advocates through a non-profit organization. We value work made by the hands of the individual artists.
The Festival is a natural addition to a community with active art galleries, monthly first Friday Gallery Stroll and other events celebrating the arts. Designed and organized by a grass roots group, careful thought and planning goes into media categories, jurying, location, and amenities for the artists. Our goal is for artists and patrons to enjoy a high quality and professional art festival. We work with generous granting institutions and the Ogden community to raise funds allowing us to keep this event free to the public.
Festival Site
Ogden's beautiful Union Station is the backdrop for the Ogden Arts Festival. Architecturally dramatic, Ogden's Union Station is home to the Utah State Railroad Museum, John M. Browning Firearms Museum and Browning/Kimball Classic Car Museum.
Historic 25th Street has a wide variety of unique restaurants, boutiques, and galleries. There are more examples of Art Deco architecture in Ogden than any other Utah city. Peery's Egyptian Theater hosts films from the Sundance and Foursite Film Festivals. Ogden hosted three venues during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Ogden is a center for culture and year-round recreation. Tucked between the Wasatch Mountains to the east and the beautiful Ogden River to the west, residents and visitors experience the wonders of nature's beauty. Situated in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains snowy peaks that boast white-water rivers, and alpine lakes, outdoor activities range from backpacking, mountain biking, rock climbing, camping, rafting, kayaking, fishing, or golfing to just relaxing and taking in the spectacular scenery. Full time residents enjoy the outdoor lifestyle, as well as the urban amenities and fine art.
The U.S. Forest Service maintains over 230 miles of mountain biking, hiking, and equestrian trails in the Ogden/Weber area with over 20 federally maintained campgrounds. Ogden is adjacent to 170,000 acres of National forest; there are 38 recreational parks in the Ogden/Weber area, eleven national parks are less than a day's drive from Ogden.