Summer Guide 2025: Paradise City Arts Festival celebrates 31 years in Northampton

NORTHAMPTON — Paradise City Arts Festival has always been a great experience for those who enjoy the fine arts and superior craftsmanship on display, and it has gotten even better each year with age, 31 years now to be exact.

Nurtured over the years by founders Linda Post and her husband Geoffrey Post — she is a painter, and he is a fiber artist — Paradise City, which will be held May 24-26 at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, is beginning a new era with two additional team members at the helm.

What began in one building has grown over the decades into a world-class juried show with museum-quality master crafts and fine art from more than 200 exhibitors across the country. Today, the festival fills three large new buildings, an outdoor Sculpture Promenade, a 12,000 square-foot Festival Dining Tent, and the new activity-filled Paradise Pavilion, introduced last year along with other first-time features. Now, even more enhancements are promised for the future by Mariah Swanson, director of marketing, and Elana Chernick-Kritz, head of operations.

“As the Paradise City Arts Festival enters its fourth decade, it is still a living entity, always growing and open to changes and new ideas. This event has won numerous accolades and awards over the years for its innovative approach to the whole concept of an art and craft show. Geoff and I feel that it is time for us to step back a bit, to make way for a new generation,” Post said.

“We love the creative ideas that our new young team, Mariah and Elana, are bringing into the mix. They have embraced the quality and imagination that define Paradise City Arts, while introducing artists, performers, and activities that also appeal to millennials, families, and younger collectors. We can’t wait to see where they take us,” she added.

Both Swanson and Chernick-Kritz have been patrons of Paradise City for many years.

“My background is in the arts. I grew up in the area and got to know more about the festival through Linda, for whom I helped to represent her own work in Michelson Galleries in Northampton. Our conversations evolved from there as she was looking for someone to bring new energy to Paradise City so she could step back some from all of the work required to put on an unparalleled show like Paradise City,” Swanson said.

“It is very exciting and a privilege to be given the opportunity to continue to expand upon what the Posts have created for a loyal audience of nearly a quarter of a million people since 1995. As we continue to diversify our offerings in the coming years, one thing will always remain the same — the legacy that has been established in finding incredible artists to show and sell their creations at the festival,” she added, noting they will also be looking to curate younger, upstart artists to add to the established list of exhibitors at the show and the many new faces this year.

They also plan to seek out more partnerships with businesses across the region such as Journey’s Lemonade, serving artisan handcrafted beverages in Building 1, a Bubble Bar in Building 2 where you can find a fresh Bellini or glass of Prosecco, or getting your caffeine fix with Monsoon Roastery pouring curated coffees in Building 3. And there will be an additional focus on dining options and reimaging the music stage perhaps even by the October show.

Among the original works to be found at the festival include ceramics, painting, decorative fiber, furniture, jewelry, mixed media, photography, wearable art, woodworking, art glass, metal, and sculpture.

Swanson noted that artist Jo Smith is going to be “one of the showstoppers” at the spring show.

“She creates contemporary, incredibly colorful paintings that are really energized from large-scale abstraction to a lot of tobacco barns,” Swanson said.

“I loved attending Paradise City when I lived here in the ′90s. I moved to Texas and had kids before moving back in 2021 during the pandemic,” Smith, who first exhibited at the festival last year, said.

Smith comes from a family of artists. Her dad loved to make cartoons, and her brother is a painter.

“I was four when my brother started college. He would show me what he was learning, then when I was a little older, he would talk to me about his paintings. He influenced me as a kid to look at and think deeply about art,” she said.

Eventually she would go on to study art and graduate from William Smith College in New York, later earning a degree in art therapy from Springfield College. Today she combines her talents at Jo Smith Studio Gallery at 9 Market St. in Northampton, a creative space where she not only paints and sells her works of art but also operates a psychotherapy practice in a private space in the back of the gallery.

Smith has many different series of works, including her popular tobacco barns and another about the pollinators and birds and the vital role they play in gardens.

“My abstracted barns represent the history of this area, the beauty of the land and how it has fed and nourished our community for so many years,” she said.

This spring, Smith expanded in size and started making very large abstract paintings, some as big as 48″-x-60″. Her new work is about “taking up space and being true to who you are even in the face of fear.” Under these large paintings are messages about strength, equality and advocacy. There are layers upon layers of painting on top of those words. The layering and the color end up creating an experience that moves beyond words into the abstract.

“My goal here is to get the colors and shapes to harmonize with one another and the size of the image to be an outspoken advocate for justice, diversity, equity, Inclusion, and belonging,” she said.

Her paintings range in price from $30 to over $3,000, alongside waterproof stickers of her art for only $3.

Smith will be submitting a piece for the special exhibition which each season — there is another show in the fall — spotlights a selection of their exhibiting artists and makers. Spring’s theme is “Feathers & Fur,” a celebration of nature’s influence on art.

Chefs are artists in their own right and many will be serving up their inspired culinary creations in the Dining Tent, home to popular Northampton area restaurants including include Spoleto, Ginger Love Café, India House, Local Burger, Little Wall and Batch Ice Cream. Thirsty visitors can also stop by the bar in the Festival Dining Tent serving up craft cocktails created by the Posts along with other libations.

Whether eating or relaxing in the dining tent, show-goers can immerse themselves in the musical arts with performances on Saturday by The Green Street Trio, Buddy McEarns Band on Sunday, and LeFever on Monday. Music is from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday.

“We also plan on expanding our hands-on activities which will be evolving from show to show,” Swanson said.

Spring activities during Memorial Day Weekend include:

• Marlene Rye will be doing a live demo with pastels over the weekend. Visitors can stop by Booth 121 to see her complete a custom piece from start to finish;
• Hands-on “Crafting with Color” for both adults and kids in Building 1;
• Roll up your sleeves and explore the world of clay with Alan and Rosemary Bennett. Hand-sculpt your favorite marine creature or imaginary critter from stoneware or porcelain. Bennett especially loves working with children, but all ages can exercise their creativity with clay in Building 3.
• As a way of giving back to the community, the Posts select an organization to benefit from their silent auction which this spring will assist the International Language Institute of Massachusetts (ILI). An array of donations by Paradise City Arts exhibitors will be available for open bidding each day at the Silent Auction tables, with 100% of the proceeds directly supporting ILI programming.

Show hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $14 online and $16 at the door, $8 for students, and free to those 12 and under. Parking is free.

For more information, visit paradisecityarts.com.