The 21st Annual Chain of Parks Art Festival is North Florida’s premiere outdoor fine art festival. Located in downtown Tallahassee along Park Avenue, the festival provides an opportunity for art lovers and artists to connect over the weekend. THIS YEAR ONLY, the Chain of Parks Art Festival is asking that only serious art patrons and enthusiasts attend the festival in the parks to support the exhibiting artists, while casual viewers and families sit this one out…and come back next year! In previous years, the CoP allowed for casual wandering in and out of the festival area. For 2021, the festival will create new entrance and exit gate locations made up of decorative barricades with festival volunteers at each location. The new festival entrances will be used to control crowd sizes, check tickets, provide wristbands, direct folks to hand sanitizer stations, and confirm proper face covering compliance. For 2021 only, the Chain of Parks Art Festival will be a limited (FREE) ticketed event. Visitors will select the day and time they would like to attend. Each ticket will direct visitors to one of the 4 designated gate entrances. There will be a color-coded wristband system to help visitors understand how long they can stay in the parks. Estimated crowds from the 2019 festival were 40,000 visitors. The 2021 festival will reduced accepted attendance to 6,000 visitors total, broken into 3 shifts per day. This year, due to Covid concerns and limited attendance, we encourage you to leave your pets and babies at home. Children 4 years old and up will require a ticket to enter the festival and must wear a mask. Expect to have a safe, first-class, fun-filled outdoor cultural experience. View amazing, original, and one-of-a-kind works of art from over 100 fine artists in a delightful Southern outdoor setting. Live entertainment will be available, along with local food trucks, chalk artists, and libations served by Il Lusso at the festival bar. The festival has expanded this year to offer new and exciting programs to bring the community unique fine art experiences in a Covid-safe way leading up to the festival weekend in the parks. The “newly expanded” 10-day event kicks off with the Zerbe Zelebration, for renowned artist Karl Zerbe April 9-18, 2021. Other exciting news for this year’s Festival includes FSU’s Opening Nights Special Presenting Artist event with artist Michael Rosato on April 15 and Artist Workshops with Jim Sherraden, formerly of Hatch Printing, at LeMoyne Arts April 15 & 16. All leading up to the festival weekend with Artists in the Park April 17-18.