Lakewood Ranch Fine Art Festival January 2027

Summary

Join us for the 9th annual Lakewood Ranch Fine Art Festival! This event will be held on Main Street in downtown Lakewood Ranch, FL January 23-24, 2027. Setup starts on Saturday, January 23th from 5 am- 9 am with show hours being Saturday 10 am - 5 pm and Sunday 10 am-5 pm.

Event admission for the public is free. This event was featured in Sunshine Artists "top 100" for 2025.

Residents in the Lakewood Ranch community have a combined annual income of over $100,000, which makes this an ideal location for an art festival. The University Town Center Market is nearby, with over 200 stores. The Sarasota Polo Club plays in Lakewood Ranch, as well as the Sarasota International Cricket Club, and the community boasts eighteen tennis courts and numerous golf courses. In addition, Lakewood Ranch is the largest certified green community in the United States.

Paragon Festivals: Original - Quality - Boutique!

General information

Application deadline: November 23, 2026

Notification: November 25, 2026

Booth fee payment due: December 23, 2026 - NOTE: All booth fee payments are made directly to PARAGON - booth fee payments cannot be made through ZAPPLICATION.

If booth fee payments are not received by the deadline, those invited artists will automatically be moved to the waitlist.

Saturday, January 23, 2027: Check-in and setup: 5am - 9am; Show hours: 10am 5pm

Sunday, January 24, 2027: Show hours: 10 am - 5 pm

ARTIST SERVICES:

• Overnight security, Saturday evening
• Designated RV parking for Saturday evening

MEDIA CATEGORIES:

• Ceramics: All original clay and porcelain work, other than jewelry, is accepted in this category. No machine-made or mass-produced work is permitted. Each piece must be signed if multiple pieces of the same design are displayed.
• Digital Art: Original works created or altered using a computer. Limited editions only, signed and numbered on archival materials. Digital photographs belong in the Photography category.
• Drawing: Work using dry media (e.g., pencil, charcoal, pastel) or ink-based techniques (e.g., washes, pens).
• Fiber: All work that is crafted from fibers, including basketry, embroidery, weaving, leatherwork, tapestry, and paper-making. No machine tooling, machine-screened patterns, or other forms of mass production are permitted.
• Glass: Original work created in glass by the artist. Pressed glass and mass production are not permitted.
• Graphic & Printmaking: Print works for which the artist hand manipulated the plates, stones, or screens, which have been signed and numbered as a limited edition. Offset reproductions are not allowed.
• Jewelry: All jewelry, whether produced from metal, glass, clay, fiber, paper, plastic, or other materials, must be entered in this category. No commercial casts, molds, or production studio work is allowed.
• Metalwork: Includes all non-sculptural, non-jewelry works crafted from metal. No production studio work is allowed.
• Mixed Media: This category includes 2D and 3D works that incorporate more than one type of physical material. Jewelry and photography are not considered mixed media.
• Painting: Work created using such materials as oils, acrylics, and watercolor. Reproductions are allowed, but must be signed and in limited editions.
• Photography: Photographic prints made from the artist's original image, processed by the artist or under their direct supervision. All images are to be editioned, not exceeding 250.
• Sculpture: Three-dimensional original work done in any medium.
• Wood: Original works that are hand-tooled, machine-worked, turned, or carved.

Rules and regulations

Jurying is conducted in-house by Paragon staff. This is a "blind" jury process which means artist scoring is based solely on the images presented without consideration of the artist's name, artist location, or reference to additional information such as websites. Juror decisions are based 70% upon the quality of work portrayed in the artwork images submitted for the jury process, and 30% on your booth presentation image. A booth image is mandatory.

STANDARDS and RULES:

1. All work must be original handcrafted work created by the artist(s) present at the event.
2. Work done by a production studio is not accepted.
3. All work must be designed and executed by the accepted artist.
4. No more than two (2) artists may collaborate on work. Both must be included on the application and present at the festival for the duration of the event.
5. Artists must be present with the work for the entire duration of the arts festival. Representatives, including spouses and family members, may not attend in lieu of the artist(s).
6. Artists are required to show photo identification (in English) at check-in to ensure identity and compliance.
7. Artists may only show work in categories and bodies of work selected by the jury.
8. All work exhibited must be in the category applied to and exhibit the quality and body of work that was shown in the images used in the jury process.

PROHIBITED: No t-shirts, commercially manufactured items, items that employ the use of commercially available molds, velvet paintings, decoupage, or plants. Traditional crafts such as soaps, wax media, scented oils, and homemade food items are not juried into our fine art events.

Booth information and fees

APPLICATION FEE: $30.00

SINGLE booth fee: $495.00

DOUBLE booth fee: $990.00

CORNER Fee: $100

All booth payments made after December 25 are an additional $50.

Jury details

Average number of applications submitted each year: 200

Average number of artists selected from the jury to participate in the event: 70

Average number of exempt-from-jury artists invited to participate: 3

Vendors that are excluded/ineligible: No Buy Sell

Jurors score applications using a 1-10 scale; 3 jurors score separately from various locations.