4 Bridges Arts Festival 2027

The 26th Annual 4 Bridges Arts Festival is a juried visual-art and fine-craft festival at First Horizon Pavilion in Chattanooga, April 16–18, 2027. Artists sell their work during a Friday Preview Party and public festival hours on Saturday and Sunday. The jury distributes $15,000 in cash prizes. Eligible categories include mixed media, basketry, ceramics, drawing, fiber/leather, furniture, glass, jewelry, metal, painting, printmaking, photography/digital art, sculpture, and wood.

Applicants must be at least 18. Collaborative teams may contain no more than two artists; both must attend throughout festival hours. The application states that it does not accept applications from emerging artists. Apply only through ZAPPlication; up to two applications are permitted. Each medium requires a separate application and fee. Submit an artist’s statement and five digital photographs: four showing a single cohesive body of work intended for exhibition and one booth photograph without signage, branding, symbols, or other identifying attributes. The nonrefundable application fee is $45 per application; discounts or waivers may be offered to AVA members and the previous year's festival award winners.

Exhibited work must be original, handcrafted by the applicant or collaborating team, available for sale, and consistent with the juried work and accepted category. No subcontracted work; work made from commercial casts/molds, kits, or patterns; copyrighted designs, imports, t-shirts, stationary, plants, velvet paintings, or commercially/factory-produced merchandise. Food and other non-art/fine-craft vendors are ineligible. Printmaking must use traditional techniques and archival materials, with limited-edition prints signed and numbered and processes disclosed. Photography/digital art must originate from the artist's photographic negative or artist-directed/supervised digital image process, use archival materials, and be printed in signed and numbered limited editions with processes disclosed. Clay/porcelain jewelry is not accepted in Ceramics. Wood work must be hand-tooled, machine-worked, turned, or carved.

Reproductions of original 2D work must disclose their production process, be signed and numbered in editions of no more than 350, and be sold only in a booth browse bin labeled “reproduction of an original”; do not label them as prints or mix originals and reproductions in one bin. Painting, Drawing, and Mixed Media booth walls may display originals only. Digital Art and Printmaking works must be signed and numbered; generally the remainder of the reproduction policy does not apply to those categories.

Booth fees: standard 10’ x 12’ $550; corner 10’ x 12’ $650; double 20’ x 12’ $1,100; double with corner 20’ x 12’ $1,200. Corner and double booths are limited and assigned first-come, first-paid. Booth payment and signed contract are due February 28, 2027. Booth assignments become firm after March 15, 2027; swaps require the show director's permission. Artists supply their own booth furnishings and moving equipment and prepare for weather in the open-sided pavilion; tents/canopies are encouraged, not required. Electricity is available at 20 amps, 120 volts.

Set up April 16 between 8 am and 3 pm, with photo ID available; booths must be ready for sales by 5 pm. Vehicles are prohibited inside the pavilion. Attendance and open booths are required at the April 16 Preview Party, 6–9 pm. Artists must remain through 5 pm Sunday, April 18; early departure may jeopardize eligibility for 2028. Breakdown begins at 5 pm, with all booths removed by 9 pm. Artists retain all sales proceeds and must collect 9.25% Tennessee sales tax. Artists participate at their own risk, are responsible for liability insurance, and receive no personal-property insurance from AVA. The jury distributes a total of $15,000 in cash prizes at its discretion; decisions are final. Booth-fee cancellations through March 12, 2027 receive a refund minus a $50 administrative charge; later refunds, less that charge, are at the director's discretion.