Questions continue over Arts in the Heart admission, space

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – We’re just a month away from Augusta’s largest arts festival, Arts in the Heart.  

The two-and-a-half-day event attracts upwards of 100,000 visitors to the streets of downtown Augusta. 

It also brings in hundreds of vendors from all over showcasing their arts, crafts, food, music and more. 

But as we get closer to the big event, some are questioning the process behind accepting vendor applications and the price for you to get in.  

Pre-sale tickets are $15, and it’ll cost you $20 at the gate to get into the festival. 

It all started after Drum Circle announced on Facebook their application was denied.  

The reason behind the denial was a lack of space. 

The Augusta Arts Council says they probably say no to more people than yes because they just don’t have enough room to bring everyone in. 

For every tent you see, there is an application attached. 

“I wish we had enough room for everyone, but right now, we have five stages, and it’s nonstop, and we accommodate a lot of local people,” said Executive Director of Greater Augusta Arts Council Brenda Durant. 

Performers on each stage are 95% local, according to the Greater Augusta Arts Council. 

They say it’s not up to them who they bring in to perform or set up a booth. It’s up to a jury panel 

“If you have not produced a festival the size of Arts in the Heart, you probably haven’t thought about it. But I don’t really expect people to, I expect them just to have a really good time,” said Durant. 

The festival does come with a cost. 

“There’s a lot of expenses with the festival that most people don’t worry about, and I don’t want them to worry about it when you come to Arts in the Heart. I want you to enjoy your weekend. I don’t want you to be thinking about how expensive it was for us to produce, or how much work we all did, or how many volunteers there, which is over 600. I don’t want you to think about that. I want you to enjoy yourself. I’ll worry about that. Our team will worry about that,” said Durant. 

Durant says the festival in return benefits the arts in the community year-round, which is a big part of what the Augusta Arts Council does like administering grant arts funds from the city to give back to local art programs. 

“I’m just proud of what we’ve done, because it’s a large volunteer team that works with us, and my entire staff works on the festival,” said Durant. 

Broad Street will be blocked off from 6th Street to 10th Street for the festival. 

It starts September 20 and tickets will be $20 at the gate. 

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