MOUNT DORA’S 45TH ANNUAL ARTS FESTIVAL IS A GO!

After careful consideration and COVID-19 precautions, the 45th annual Mount Dora Art Festival will proceed as scheduled in February.  Typically, the juried show features approximately 300 of the nation’s top artists, but this year organizers are aiming for 200 in order to accommodate social distancing of booths.

In an effort to keep artists and visitors safer, Mount Dora Center for the Arts (MDCA), the organizers of the popular two-day festival, will space booths 10 feet apart and masks will be required for visitors and vendors.   

This year Florida’s art festivals are receiving fewer applicants than in previous years.  The challenge is twofold.  One reason is due to the cancellation of some festivals on the art show circuit which has made travelling to Florida’s remaining festivals less profitable for artists.  The other reason is the artists’ concern over COVID-19 safety due to events that often draw large crowds.  In order for artists to participate, they must have confidence the festival will be both safe and profitable.  In pre-Covid-19 years, the highly ranked art festival reportedly drew approximately 200,000  people over the two days. 

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Mount Dora Arts Festival will take place on February 6 and 7 on downtown streets in the heart of the quaint historic district.   The deadline for artists to apply is October 15. However there is a chance the deadline could be extended, according to Nancy Zinkofsky, MDCA’s Executive DIrector.  The jurying process will begin the first week in November.

Artists interested in applying can go to Zapplication.org and enter Mount Dora Arts Festival and then fill out the application and pay the $25 fee. 

Funds from the event help sustain MDCA’s programming and art classes, free events, exhibits, lectures and kids’ summer camp scholarships.

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