Final Forest Grove Festival of the Arts is Wednesday

The Forest Grove Festival of the Arts will return to 21st Avenue and beyond for the fourth and final time this year Wednesday, Aug. 6. 

The Forest Grove Festival of the Arts, which takes place the first Wednesday of the month from May through August, will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 6 with a “whole new line-up at the Festival Stage on 21^st Avenue, off Main Street and a variety of venues within two blocks of the Adelante Farmers Market,” according to a press release from Forest Grove Public Arts Commission spokesperson Linda Stiles Taylor. From 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., guests can enjoy free live music, arts and crafts for all ages, and interactive exhibits. 

“The Forest Grove Festival of the Arts is a collaboration between the Forest Grove Public Arts Commission and the Adelante Farmers Market on Main Street in historic downtown Forest Grove,” said Taylor in a press release. 

“The free festival will feature a vibrant array of exhibits, live performances, and participatory activities celebrating 'the arts' in their many forms; music, film, dance, theatre, literary arts, fine arts, and crafts,” said a post on a website established for the festival.

One of the many interactive booths that will be present at this month’s festival is the Festival Zone Arts Stakeholders Booth, which will “feature Forest Grove Dance Arts, celebrating 20 years of excellence, and Mona Catalan with watercolor flowers and paint-the-castle,” according to Taylor. “The FG Public Arts Commission booth will invite all ages to contribute to a large community mural and make a mini book to go,” Taylor continued.  

The Festival Stage will kick off with performances from Ballad Town Harmony barbershop chorus & quartet, and will be followed by the “dynamic Latin fusion sound of Josefina del Norte,” according to Taylor. 

In the classroom inside Valley Art Association, Artingales will provide “recycled poetry,” while a “different creative make n’ take craft opportunity will be on offer in the booth in front of the gallery,” according to Taylor. 

Gann Brothers Printing will host a letterpress demonstration, “with SPC neon surf-wave crash-pop on their back deck,” said Taylor in a press release. After watching the letterpress demonstration, guests are invited to head downstairs to Erickson-Hall studios where a demonstration of a “nature-inspired water-media” will be held. 

The Forest Grove City Library will present a concert by James Manuele, with “perfect music for enjoying summer,” according to Taylor. 

“Enjoy strolling the Adelante Farmers Market as you take in all the free family-friendly opportunities to celebrate the Arts, and perhaps sing-along to whimsical ukulele tunes with Spidey,” said Taylor in a press release

For more information or to view the festival’s full schedule, visit fgfota.org. 

This story has been updated to note that the guitarist performing at the Forest Grove City Library is named James Manuele, not James Manuel.