SALISBURY, Md. - The Maryland Folk Festival says they are inviting artists from across the state to participate in its inaugural Poster Challenge for a shot at winning a $2,000 prize.
The festival, which is presented by Perdue, will take place in Downtown Salisbury from Sept. 22 to 24. Salisbury hosted the national festival for over five years in collaboration with the National Council for the Traditional Arts, and is now hosting the statewide event.
For the poster challenge, the festival says that entrants should design a creative festival poster using any two-dimensional medium that answers the question “What does ‘folk’ mean to you?”
They say the posters have to be 18 by 24 inches, vertical, and must include the following words and items:
- Maryland Folk Festival
- Salisbury, MD
- September 22-24, 2023
- The artist’s signature
- An area near the bottom for a sponsor logo/name
- Empty space in the design to include the names of all performers attending this year’s festival
On top of the $2,000 prize, the festival says that will be featured in the Maryland Folk Festival Official Guide.
Applications will be open from May 30 to July 17, says the festival, with judges selecting the top 10 designs and posting them online on Aug. 1. After that, they say the public will have the opportunity to vote, with the winning design announced at Downtown Salisbury's 3rd Friday event on Aug. 18.
Posters and shirts at the festival will feature the winning design.
“Folk and cultural traditions mean something different to everyone and the theme of the Poster Challenge intentionally allows for a wide interpretation,” said Caroline O’Hare, events and culture manager for the City of Salisbury. “We are looking forward to having members of the community involved both as artists and during the voting process, and then having a unique, impressive design for the Maryland Folk Festival’s first year.”
Complete rules, detailed specs, graphics and past posters from other festivals are available at http://MDFolkFest.com/poster/
The folk festival is also looking for volunteers to fill a variety of roles.
