Tuscaloosa Eyeing 15-Year Agreement to Host Kentuck Festival Through 2039

Leaders in Tuscaloosa are weighing whether to extend their partnership with a local arts organization and host the massively popular Kentuck Festival of the Arts here through 2039.

As the Thread has previously reported, the Festival was hosted in Northport for more than 50 years until 2023, when former council President Jeff Hogg held up agency funding for the Kentuck Art Center over a series of squabbles, including a major one about the long-term future of the Festival.

As planning for the 2024 event got underway and negotiations with Northport leaders deteriorated, Kentuck put out word that they would consider moving the Festival to somewhere it was more appreciated. Tuscaloosa ultimately succeeded in securing it and held the city's first Festival last year in Snow Hinton Park - an event that reportedly drew 16,000 visitors.

This year's Festival is just weeks away on October 11th and 12th, and will be held at the same location. On Tuesday, though, the Tuscaloosa City Council's Projects Committee will consider a memorandum of agreement to host the Festival for the next 15 years, through 2039.

Get our free mobile app

"It's obviously easier to plan when you know where you're going to be," said Exa Skinner, the executive director of the Kentuck Arts Center. "We had such an incredible experience last year, and the feedback that we got from artists, vendors, and festival-goers was just overwhelmingly positive. There's no reason for us to think about moving it again, and good! Because doing so was quite a feat."

The long-term partnership has the support of Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, who praised the scale, history, and impact of the Festival.

“The Kentuck Festival of the Arts is one of Alabama’s cultural crown jewels and a source of pride for our community,” Mayor Maddox said in a statement. “By entering into this 15-year partnership, we’re not just securing the festival’s future in our community, we’re reaffirming our ongoing commitment to the arts, to creative innovation, and to the Kentuck staff, artists, and volunteers who make this event truly extraordinary.”

Also on board is city councilman John Faile, who represents District 6, where Snow Hinton Park is located.

“Last year’s Kentuck Festival of the Arts in Tuscaloosa was very successful with over 16,000 visitors to Snow Hinton Park over the weekend,” Councilor Faile said. “Kentuck is one of the finest festivals of its type in the nation, and we’re excited to see it continue in Tuscaloosa into the future.”

The Projects committee will consider the agreement when it meets on Tuesday, and the full council could vote on it soon after.

Skinner said just to be thinking 15 years into the future is an honor, and it might not have happened without the messy breakup with Northport.

"I think that's something beautiful that came out of the struggle we had in changing venues," she said. "At one point, we didn't feel confident about what our citizens wanted because of the way things went down. But to then have this outcry from the public saying they didn't want Kentuck to go away and to have all these other places in the state who said they wanted Kentuck in their towns, that really cemented some things for us. This festival, this Center, the art-making that happens here, our artists - it's not a luxury. It's a necessity that people need in their lives. This organization has helped to shape the cultural identity of people who live in West Alabama, and that struggle really reminded us all why we're doing what we're doing."

As for this year's Festival, Skinner said more artists than ever before applied for a spot, breaking records they set last year during their first year in Tuscaloosa. She said that usually correlates to strong attendance, and the nonprofit expects a big crowd come the second weekend of October.

Football lovers don't fret - that's a Crimson Tide away game, when Alabama will be in Columbia, Missouri, to take on the Tigers at Faurot Field.

"In the years past, having it during a football game was always a struggle," Skinner said. "But now, being in the city of Tuscaloosa, we just can't ask that of our police and firefighters and EMTs to try to do both in the same weekend."

Tickets and VIP passes are available now at Kentuck's website.

For more coverage of the Festival, discussions at City Hall, and other news from around West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.