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For one day each year in October, the front porches and tree-lined streets of Isle of Hope are opened up to an arts and music festival celebrating the art, the community and the special neighborhood of Isle of Hope, reports Savannah Magazine. The festival drew more than 8,500 attendees last year.
Savannah Magazine explained the origins of the Isle of Hope Arts & Music Festival 26 years ago when local artists, including the Isle of Hope Artisans League and the Wrights’ yard on Bluff Drive were joined by friends and families of the various participants for one day of artwork in the front yards. Over the years more and more artists, plus food vendors, and others signed up and as time passed the event moved down the street to the Isle of Hope Marina and the coordinating Pavillion. Noel Wright was the leader of the community and the resident historian for many years until his passing in June. His wife Ruthie, also a fixture of the event, passed away in 2020.
This year’s Isle of Hope Arts & Music Festival promises to be the biggest year yet. With 125 artists and vendors selected from a pool of over 300 applicants to display and sell their work at the festival, there will be plenty of handcrafted items, decorative items, paintings and more. Artists will be coming from all over the island, Savannah and as far away as New York City to participate in the festival.
Festival co-chair Erica Wilson said that after the event she asks the artists for feedback on the festival and that 99% of them say it is their best show of the year and they sell all of their work.
Savannah Magazine said up-and-coming artist from Alabama, Lamont Landers, will return to the festival this year as the headlining performer for the night of music. With a raw, soulful voice that earned him a video post on the internet for a rendition of Ray Charles’ classic “Hit the Road Jack,” Landers has made appearances on “America’s Got Talent” and “Showtime at the Apollo” and has been invited by Grammy-Award winning producer Dave Cobb to record his first EP at Cobb’s studio in Savannah.
This year local performers participating in the festival include Jacob Evans, Jay Rudd Band, Justin Vreeland, Miley Kinner, The Savannah World-Famous Crabettes and CC Witt. The festival begins with the 3rd Infantry Division Band leading the March down Bluff Dr.
Even though Isle of Hope Arts & Music Festival 2026 is free to attend, the one day event is made possible by the artists and sponsors that volunteer their time to help put on the festival. There will be 16 food trucks on site to serve up a variety of delicious meals. Children can also enjoy themselves at the kids area that will have activities for them to do throughout the day.
The Isle of Hope Arts & Music Festival 2026 will take place on October 24. Vendors will be open from 10am until 5pm. Live music will run from 10am until 8pm. Festival maps, artist and vendor lists, music lineups as well as information on how to volunteer for and sponsor the Isle of Hope Arts & Music Festival can be found on the website iohartandmusicfestival.com. In the meantime, parking will be available at three churches as well as the Isle of Hope school and attendees are encouraged to carpool or use ride share as space is limited.
Savannah Magazine notes that the Isle of Hope Arts & Music Festival has always drawn together families, residents, artists and musicians year after year but lacked a strong visual identity that would clearly represent the event from year to year. Festival co-chairs Erica Wilson and Tiffany Alewine set out to rectify that by engaging Savannah-based strategist and creative director Michael Mikulec to develop a branding initiative for the event. The identity uses the architecture of the old homes on Bluff Drive as inspiration and includes the following colors: marsh gray, oyster, tide blue, twilight plum, harbor peach and Lowcountry charcoal.
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