A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY

Thank you for your resilience, your adaptability, and most of all, for showing up to support Arts in the Heart of Augusta in the midst of change.

 

As construction continues in our forever home downtown, this year brought our third festival footprint change. Once again, we adjusted, pivoted, and found a way to create something beautiful. It looked different. It felt different. Such is life. When Augusta handed us lemons, we made a whole festival-sized pitcher of lemonade.

 

There are moments when I stop in the middle of the organized chaos, look around, and smile. For 45 years, Arts in the Heart has brought people together through music, dance, food, visual art, and the simple joy of experiencing cultures from around the world. This tradition belongs to Augusta, and this year, Augusta proved just how much it means.

 

The festival also means something deeply important to the Greater Augusta Arts Council. Arts in the Heart is our annual fundraiser, and its success helps sustain our work during the other 11 months of the year. It allows us to advocate for artists, support public art, provide educational programming, manage the City Gallery, offer resources to our members, and continue investing in the creative spirit of our community.

 

Every ticket purchased, every hour volunteered, every sponsorship given, and every person who walked through our gates became part of something much larger than one weekend.

 

To our sponsors and community partners, thank you for understanding that your support reaches far beyond the festival grounds. You are investing in the arts, in artists, and in Augusta’s creative future.

 

And to our community, thank you for trusting us through another season of change. You came. You celebrated. You danced, ate, shopped, listened, laughed, and made the new space feel like home.

 

We made the lemonade, but Augusta brought the sweetness.

About Arts in the Heart

For more than four decades, the Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival, managed by the Greater Augusta Arts Council, has transformed Downtown Augusta into a colorful celebration of creativity, culture, and community. What began in 1981 as two separate grassroots festivals, with one focused on expanding access to the arts and the other celebrating the many cultures that shaped Augusta’s history, this event quickly grew into something much bigger. In 1982, those visions merged to create the Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival, built on the idea that art has the power to bring people from all walks of life together.

 

From its earliest beginnings in the parking lot of the Augusta Richmond County Municipal Building to its now iconic home spanning several blocks of historic Downtown Augusta, the festival has continued to evolve alongside the city itself. Today, Arts in the Heart welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year to experience the sights, sounds, and flavors of the world. Festivalgoers can explore the Global Village featuring more than 15 countries represented by local cultural organizations and businesses, shop from over 130 fine arts and crafts vendors from local to national artists, enjoy nonstop music, dance, theatre, and spoken word performances across multiple stages, and discover interactive experiences for all ages in the expansive Family Area.

 

At the heart of the festival is a celebration of the people who make Augusta vibrant and unique. The festival’s spirit is colorful, expressive, and joyfully diverse. Whether you come for the food, the art, the performances, or the sense of connection, Arts in the Heart of Augusta is more than a festival; it’s a tradition that reflects the creativity, culture, and energy of Augusta’s River Region and its connections beyond.

2026 FESTIVAL:

SUPPORT THE ARTS AND  VOLUNTEER AT THE FESTIVAL!

 

Volunteers are the heartbeat of Arts in the Heart. Without the support of Augusta’s Arts Lovers, this event would not be possible.

 

Volunteers get to enjoy the festival with a close, personal experience. They receive free entry into the festival all weekend long plus a free, exclusive festival tee-shirt.

 

Closes September 16, 2026

Click Here to Volunteer!

This is my second temporary festival footprint since becoming Executive Director. If someone had told me two years ago that we’d be reinventing the festival twice because of downtown construction, I might have laughed… and then immediately reached for a map. What I’ve learned is this. The location may change, but the heart of the festival never does.

 

The people are the festival.

The artists are the festival.

The performers, volunteers, food vendors, sponsors, and every smiling face that walks through the gates are the festival. We’re simply creating a place for all of that magic to happen.

 

And this year, that place is the Festival Grounds at the Exchange Club Fairgrounds. Our team has been hard at work checking off the details. Stage schedules are complete. Artists are preparing. Twenty incredible countries are getting ready to share their culture through food and hospitality. Sponsors have stepped forward. Volunteers are signing up. Every day brings another piece of the puzzle together. This temporary home is shaping up to be one we’ll remember for all the right reasons. If the last two years have taught me anything, it’s that creativity thrives in moments of change. Artists know that better than anyone. We adapt. We imagine. We build. We create.

That’s exactly what we’re doing.

 

So, whether this is your first Arts in the Heart or your forty-fifth, I hope you’ll join us this September. Come celebrate the arts. Come celebrate one another. Come help support a nonprofit whose mission is to make sure creativity continues to flourish in Augusta all year long.

We can’t wait to welcome you.

See you at the festival.

 

Denise

Thank You to our major sponsors!