Cobb Reporter

The 35th annual Art in the Park event will return to Historic Marietta Square for Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4-6.

More than 175 artists are expected to show their work in this year’s Artist Market. The free event also features a Children’s Art Alley, the Chalk Spot street display, the Food Truck Row plus unique shops, museums and historic walking tours.

Cobb Reporter asked Carolyn Morris, festival director for Art in the Park, if there were any new surprises for visitors this year.

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"There's almost 170 artists that are going to be there," Morris told Cobb Reporter. "The other fun thing that we're doing is music in the gazebo. People can just wander and enjoy the sound, or they can actually bring a blanket, they could bring a chair. Come and sit in front of the little gazebo. Everybody's welcome to go pick up dinner at one of the local restaurants and come over and sit in the park and have a picnic and listen to music."

Morris told Cobb Reporter that some COVID-19 precautions will be taken, but will mostly be left up to the visitors. 

"We will continue to monitor," Morris said. "The booths are all ten by ten so they're spaced out already. There will be additional hand sanitizer stations around, and we're just asking everybody to do what they personally feel comfortable doing. If it's a mask, great. If it's not, that's great too. As far as the artists, that's what we've been telling them as well. We're paying attention to the local state and federal guidelines, and hopefully we'll continue to all be safe."

When asked about the benefits the event provides for the immediate Cobb County community, Morris mentioned the economic benefits, but said Art in the Park provides other benefits for local residents.

"There is an economic benefit. The artists are going to come in, they're going to eat, they're going to buy gas, they're going to stop at the grocery store," Morris told Cobb Reporter. "But really, it is not only Marietta Art in the Park, but most community events just bring peace to the soul, quite frankly. And that's what it does, the festival provides a platform for the artists to showcase their work and it gives the community an opportunity just to get out of the house, walk the square and just be a part. I think we probably all missed that last year."

Art in the Park has been honored as a Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event, ranked in the Top 100 in the nation in the Classic and Contemporary Craft Shows by Sunshine Artist Magazine and has also earned awards from the Southeast Festivals and Events Association and the International Festivals & Events Association.

The event will be held 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 4-6 at Glover Park on the Historic Marietta Square, 50 N. Park Square. Free parking will be available on the street with paid spots available in the Cobb County Parking Decks on Waddell Street.