Call to Artists for Booker Creek Arts Festival, EDGE District, St. Petersburg
Submissions for the Booker Creek Arts Festival are open July 15 – August 14, 2026. Submissions close at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, August 14, 2026.
Artists whose artwork is selected for the festival need not be present for the festival. Cash prizes totaling up to $50,000 will be awarded. This festival invites applications from any artist who has been a resident of Florida for at least six (6) consecutive months before the submission date, and at least eighteen (18) years of age or older on or before August 14, 2026.
This is a blind jury competition. To apply for entry, artists must complete the online submission form for the Call to Artists on CaFÉ, submit three artworks, and pay a $25 non-refundable entry fee.
Artists may submit 2-D or 3-D artworks, provided each artwork can be hung on a wall. The submissions may be paintings, sculptures, ceramic works, textile works, photographs, drawings, mixed-media works, collages, or assemblages. Digital-only works (i.e., those visible only in digital format), new media works, or video or film productions are not permitted.
Artists may not submit works-in-progress. In addition, each of the artist’s submitted artworks must have been completed in or after 2023.
For the Artists’ Rules and Call to Artists on CaFE, go to https://opportunities.wearecreativewest.org/opportunity/17507/CAFE.
The Festival
Booker Creek Arts Festival, from November 12-15, 2026, is the inaugural arts festival and competition in the EDGE District of St. Petersburg, Florida. It was created to energize and elevate the artists living and working in Florida, and to help promote the historic EDGE District’s cultural and economic landscape.
This four-day festival will transform the District into an immersive arts experience celebrating creativity, culture, and community. Inspired by Booker Creek – the historic urban stream that winds through downtown St. Petersburg – the festival will feature juried works by hundreds of Florida artists displayed throughout (and inside of) participating venues. They will compete for awards totaling $50,000. Artists are not required to be present for the festival.
During the festival, the EDGE District becomes a living art gallery. Instead of being confined to traditional museum walls, multiple artworks are displayed throughout the District in each venue, and those venues will include restaurants and cafés, boutiques and shops, hotels and residential buildings. Visitors will enjoy this event for free and have the opportunity to vote for their favorite piece for the People’s Choice Award.
The Arts Competition
At the heart of Booker Creek Arts Festival is a juried art competition with up to $50,000 in cash prizes. These are among the largest prize purses for an inaugural arts festival in the region. Awards include:
Booker Creek Best in Show – $10,000
Award of Excellence – $7,500
Merit Awards (10) – $1,500
People’s Choice Awards (2) – $2,500 – determined by visitor votes
Florida artists working in a wide range of media — from painting and photography to wall sculpture and mixed media — compete for these prizes, making it a vibrant showcase of contemporary Florida art.
For more information about the Booker Creek Arts Festival, go to https://BookerCreekArts.com/about.
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If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
