Jerry Brown Arts Festival

ADA Accessibility Notes

Wheelchair accessible. Handicapped and shuttled parking is available on site.

Ages Festival is Appropriate For

Appropriate for all ages

Juried artists from across the Southeast make their way to the northwest Alabama community of Hamilton the first weekend in March to offer one-of-a-kind creations and masterpieces. Hosted by the Northwest Alabama Arts Council, the highly acclaimed Jerry Brown Arts Festival (JBAF) offers two days of quality folk art exhibition, a free kids art station and free admission and parking.

The JBAF is known for its emphasis on Southern folk art, but there are various mediums available at each year's festival to include pottery, multiple forms of glass art, mixed media, jewelry making, wood art/carving, metal art, sculptures, gourd art, quilting, fabric art, paintings, basket weaving, wire art and photography. Over 50 artists offering one-of-a-kind creations and masterpieces will be on hand and festival goers will have the opportunity to shop their incredible work and a free kids’ art station will be provided where children can create their own works of art.

The festival honors Hamilton’s Jerry Brown, a ninth generation potter whose work can be found in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Brown was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship in 1992, as well as receiving numerous merit awards, and in 2003, he was awarded the Alabama Heritage Award from the Alabama Arts Council. Brown, who passed away unexpectedly on the eve of the fourteenth annual festival last March, was the only known potter in the United States who used a mule, Blue the Mule, to help him mill clay for his pottery. For more information on Brown and his mule, visit www.jerrybrownpottery.com.

Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free and parking is free.

How to Get There

The event takes place at the Tombigbee Electric Cooperative, located underneath the city’s water tower at 3196 County Highway 55 in Hamilton (located at Exit 14 on I-22).

Free admission