ABOUT CAMBRIDGE ARTS FESTIVAL
Cambridge Arts Festival began in September 1995 and has been an annual event held in Cambridge every summer. We are a fully not-for-profit event that provides attendees with a FREE day of interactive arts activities, Maker Labs, live music and performance, artists, vendors and much more!
Our Core Values:
Celebrate Original Art – by providing a space for local visual artists, musicians, performers and makers to share their talents with Cambridge and the surrounding communities.
Inspire Appreciation for Arts and Culture – by building awareness of the wide range of artists in our communities and inspire participation in the arts.
Build Community – by encouraging local arts organizations to become partners with and participate in the festival.
Innovation – by continually seeking out new and creative ideas in arts and technology that can be shared with the community.
Build Environmental Awareness Through Arts – by providing attendees of all ages with the opportunity to learn about environmental responsibility through creative arts activities.
Highlights from past events
Kids Zone
Each year CAF hosts an exciting variety of arts activities for children. Yearly favourites include our colouring stations, easel art stations and craft tables. In 2014 CAF introduced children to the art of creating with recycled materials making newspaper hats and tin can and pop bottle jet packs to name a few activities. These were a great hit and in this year we plan to introduce even more creative activities that bring awareness to the concept of “reuse, reduce, recycle” as well as to the environment.
CAF Art Alley
CAF’s Art Alley is a gathering of illuminated festival tents right in the centre of the festival. Each tent will house a unique local artist showcasing their work. For this year a special opportunity to witness these artists in action as they perform their art live and interact with the watching crowd is being introduced. Artists will be creating in the mediums of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, mixed media, street art, and more.
Local Food
A good restaurant is like a glue that binds a downtown core together and our festival provides a great opportunity for local restaurants, bakeries and a food truck to serve our guests and please some palettes. This year brings local favourites Malasada World Bakery, Bombay Sizzler, 13 Food & Beverage, EVO Kitchen, GTA Softee Ice Cream and Monigrams’ coffee cart.
Music Stage
From rock to folk to jazz and more our main outdoor music stage hosts a variety of well-known and up-and-coming local musicians to entertain music lovers of all ages. “Galt Love Friday night Series” which is sure to draw a crowd is providing the 2019 lineup of musical talent. This year’s layout plans for lots of table seating and plenty of room to relax while you enjoy some local food and music.
Maker Lab
CAF is the founder and host of Cambridge’s first and largest Maker Lab – where arts meet technology with creative activities for makers of all ages. Established in 2014 our Maker Lab has now become known throughout the region. This year the Maker Lab is adding more creative technology and environment themed activities. This year brings our Intro to Coding workshop as well as local favourites Cambridge Gaming Community with Retro video game consoles. Tinker Truck will be back with their Riverworks water station.
Community Participation
Each year, CAF invites local groups to participate in the festival to help bring awareness to the great organizations that are right here in our communities. In 2017 CAF welcomed Idea Exchange, Cambridge Live Music, the Fashion History Museum, Cambridge Centre for the Arts, Cambridge Army Cadets, Preston House Scout Band, Long & McQuade Musical petting zoo and an indoor art exhibit from Highland Public School among others.
Sponsors
CAF strives to cultivate relationships with sponsors and we continue to enlist support from the Region’s local businesses to help make the arts a priority in our communities. While majority of our funding is provided by City of Cambridge, we are proud to have received support from TD Bank, Waterloo Region Record, Cambridge Arts Connect and Angus Audio as well as many other local businesses and organizations who support us through in-kind donation.
Planning Committee
The Cambridge Arts Festival Planning Committee consists of a small team of dedicated volunteers who work hard all year round to make the event a success. Over the last 5 years, attendance at the festival has more than doubled and we consistently hear positive feedback from attendees about how much they enjoyed the festival. Every year we undertake a thorough evaluation of our programming so that we can create an even better experience for future events.
In 2015 Cambridge Arts Festival received a Bernice Adams Award for making a significant contribution to arts in culture in the City of Cambridge. In 2016, CAF was nominated for a Region of Waterloo Arts Award for its outstanding accomplishment and service in the field of event production.