There is something new this year: Arts Fest is partnering with the Central PA Tasting Trail to offer a designated craft beverage area where visitors can try locally made beer, wine and cider. The Arts Festival did some virtual events during the hiatus, but Bryant said that he’s looking forward to getting back to live, in-person events. Students went away and the town fathers and mothers decided that we needed a little bit of tourism to round out our economy, hence the Arts Festival,” Bryant said. The Arts Festival was founded in 1967 to be an engine of economic development. “People don’t come to State College for free. With his many years as executive director, Bryant knows that the economic impact that Arts Fest has is huge. Hopefully, we will remember what to do,” Bryant said with a laugh. We are very fortunate that our paid staff has been here quite a while. Once the planning process began for 2022, Bryant said, it was game (back) on. I think people are looking forward to us coming back,” Bryant said. You can set your watch by us and we haven’t been around in a while. “It’s one of the ways we set the clock here in the summer in Centre County. The event, which runs from July 14 through July 17, will bring thousands of visitors into town. The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts is, arguably, one of the biggest events of the summer in Happy Valley. I would say that people that I run into are just super excited about it.”

“The response in the community has been great. You wonder, ‘what did we forget?’ I hope not much,” Bryant said with a laugh.

Festivals near lock haven pa