THEY'RE EVERYWHERE, AND THEY WORK!

In a first-of-its-kind report produced by the US National Endowment for the Arts, Live from Your Neighborhood: A National Study of Outdoor Arts Festivals finds outdoor arts festivals attract a range of audiences, they enhance their communities as creative placemakers, and they are a gateway to arts attendance. "More than 100 million Americans attend arts and cultural festivals each year. It is time that we start to examine these festivals more closely," said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. In his message in the report, Landesman encouraged audiences to share their reactions to the survey on the NEA Art Works blog. The survey analyzes data from 1,413 outdoor festivals in nearly every state and Washington, DC. The survey reflects a cross-section of outdoor arts festivals in artistic disciplines such as music, visual arts and crafts, dance, folk and traditional arts, theater, literature, and film. Festival audiences, programming, staffing, and finances are also reviewed. Seven case studies profile a variety of outdoor festivals in large and small communities around the country. Arts festivals are one of the most popular arts activities according to the NEA's Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, reflecting the growing demand for informal and interactive arts experiences.