Gallery – Arts Fest returns to Smithfield
Published 4:45 pm Thursday, May 22, 2025
- No, it’s not Christmas in July two months early. It’s the return of Smithfield’s Arts Festival, which drew dozens of vendors to Main Street on May 17, including Jimmy Goetz of Jimbo’s Ceramics, a vendor within Riverbend Gifts of Smithfield, who exhibited his ceramic Christmas trees. (Photos by Stephen Faleski | The Smithfield Times)
The Smithfield Arts Festival returned to downtown Smithfield along three blocks of Main Street on May 17.
The event celebrates visual, performing, culinary and literary arts and was held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event coincided with the arrival of the VA 250 Mobile Museum that celebrates the upcoming 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. The museum was parked outside the Bank of Southside Virginia for five days.
The Arts Festival, which made its debut in 2022, replaced a June festival known as Olden Days, which the town’s and county’s shared tourism department scrapped in 2019 in favor of a more family-oriented and inclusive event held earlier in the year to avoid high heat.
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- Fred Andy sings with the CEC band.
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- Waverly and Levi Iannone of Chesapeake color at one of the arts stations set up across three blocks of Main Street.
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- From left, back row, are Cassidy Pearce, Emma Dvorak and Mia Babb. In front, from left, are Bella Jordan, Caroline Joyner and Brooklyn Rosenthal-Brown, all with Footnotes School of Dance.
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- Argie Maurakis of Poquoson sells Greek foods and baked goods.
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- Nancy Pearson, at left, and Julie Hopkins represent the Angel Quilters, a group affiliated with Trinity United Methodist Church that donates quilts to those in need.
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- Author Dan Hobbs exhibits his “Cleave America” historical fiction novels at Christ Episcopal Church.
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- Susie Cooper of the 1750 Courthouse wears her period costume ahead of the Court Days reenactment scheduled for May 31.
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- Arts Fest attendees visit the “Out of Many, One” exhibit at the Virginia 250 Mobile Museum parked outside the Bank of Southside Virginia. The exhibit is traveling statewide ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary of its founding.
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- Phil Casey performs by the Bank of Southside Virginia.
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- Norma Wilson and Layla Barnes of Kingdoms of Cornucopia, which runs the Harvest Faire that recently hosted its Springtime in the Shire festival at Breezy Hill Meadworks on the outskirts of Smithfield, demonstrate sword fighting. The spring event collected over 3,000 pounds of food and raised nearly $1,000 for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore.
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- Isle of Wight County Animal Control Officer Courtney Heath takes “Bark-a-Cue” out on his leash.
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- Author Crystal Wolfe of Newport News exhibits her books.
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- Jacqueline Weber of Carrollton sells handmade jewelry from a tent on Main Street.
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- Smithfield author Mike Farmer exhibits his western novels at Christ Episcopal Church.
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- Smithfield author Kim Holland exhibits her children’s books.
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- Sean and Sharnay Davis of Smithfield sell jewelry under their business name, Anointed Creations.
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- Suzanne Foster of Suffolk exhibits her “Eby Lundy” children’s books, the main character in which is named for her grandfather, who planted chestnut trees.
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- Liz and Annabelle Chandler visit a vendor selling woodcrafts.
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- Author T.B. Bond of Portsmouth exhibits her “Hunter’s Creed” and “Friends with Benies” novels.
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- Gretchen Boals of Chesapeake exhibits her artwork.
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- Jane Keckler of New Kent County exhibits her watercolor paintings.
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- Yuriko and Mayta Leverich of Suffolk exhibit pressed-flower jewelry.
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- Author Leslie Eva Tayloe of Tappahannock exhibits her children’s books.
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- Kathryn Howard of North Suffolk sells her custom etched glassware and gifts.
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- From left, Meredith Parks, Liz and Annabelle Chandler and Sarah Edwards oversee a coloring station at the booth for Great Oaks Learning, Edwards’ Smithfield-based tutoring service.
