Fine Arts Fiesta

Wilkes Barre, PA > Wilkes Barre Groups & Organizations > Fine Arts Fiesta

address:P.O. Box 2053 Wilkes Barre, PA 18703 website:Fine Arts Fiesta email:

The Fine Arts Fiesta, a celebration of diversity in the performing and visual arts, is the oldest festival of its kind in Pennsylvania. Founded in 1956 by Annette Evans and Alfred Groh as an annual celebration of the arts in the Wyoming Valley area, the first fiesta lasted three days and presented music, dance, drama, sketches and displays.

It is hard to imagine the last forty-six years in the life of Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley without the Fine Arts Fiesta. Producing an arts festival that could be enjoyed by the entire community was the primary goal of Annette Evans, Alfred Groh, and other Fiesta founders. The talent displayed in those early Fiestas was local, the exhibits were local, and, on Public Square, the atmosphere was local. A source of great pride for the community, the Fine Arts Fiesta flourished in the hands of capable leaders from the Wyoming Valley community. As numerous newspaper articles recount and Ruth Schooley noted, millions of people have continued to be amazed that Wilkes-Barre is the home of such a wonderful arts fiesta. The oldest full-scale arts festival in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Fine Arts Fiesta continues to bring pleasure to thousands of visitors every May.

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Fine Arts Fiesta An Arts Festival

The Fine Arts Fiesta, a celebration of diversity in the performing and visual
arts, is the oldest festival of its kind in Pennsylvania. Founded in 1956 by
Annette Evans and... Read more