Art Takes Over Phoenicia NY: A Weekend of Film, Music, Art & Performance

For one weekend in August, Phoenicia becomes a canvas as the 4th Annual Phoenicia Festival of the Arts Returns on August 21–23. Artists, filmmakers, musicians, performers, residents, and visitors will come together for a three-day celebration that brings creativity out of traditional galleries and into theaters, storefronts, public spaces, and the streets of this Catskills community.

Produced by VARGA Gallery & Studio and founded by Christina Varga, the festival has grown from a local arts gathering into an expansive celebration of the creative energy that defines Phoenicia and the surrounding region. This year’s program brings together visual art, live performance, film, artist markets, workshops, conversations, and site-specific installations—all unfolding throughout town. And there’s another reason to make a weekend of it: the continued expansion of the festival’s film program and the launch of the Phoenicia Film Festival.

The 4th Annual Phoenicia Festival of the Arts

Three Days of Art, Performance and Community

Part of what makes the Phoenicia Festival of the Arts special is that it isn’t confined to one venue. The town itself becomes part of the experience. Visitors can meander down Main Street and experience outdoor artist markets, exhibitions, installations, performances, and creative gatherings before heading to the historic Phoenicia Playhouse Community Theatre for films and special programming.

4th Annual Phoenicia Festival of the Arts
August 21–23, 2026
Phoenicia, New York

Panels, filmmaker Q&As, creative art and writing workshops, and opportunities to meet the artists behind the work make this a festival designed for participation as much as observation. Site-specific installations at 52 Main Street will add another visual dimension to the weekend, while performances—including HYDROSYMPHONY: The Children of the River, presented in coordination with the Foundation for New American Art—expand the festival beyond the gallery walls.

Most importantly, the festival offers something increasingly valuable: an opportunity to experience art alongside the people who make it.

Join in on the fun and take this opportunity to explore Phoenicia differently: walk the town, discover an artist, see a film, join a conversation, hear live music, and experience what happens when an entire community becomes a gathering place for creativity.

Meet the Founder: Christina Varga

At the center of the Phoenicia Festival of the Arts is Christina Varga, founder of VARGA Gallery & Studio and the creative force behind the festival. An artist, curator, and longtime champion of the arts, Varga created the Phoenicia Festival of the Arts to bring artists, performers, filmmakers, and the community together while turning Phoenicia itself into a place for creative discovery. Now in its fourth year, the festival reflects her passion for making art accessible, collaborative, and deeply connected to the place and people around it. To learn more about Christina, step into her studio for our exclusive interview.

52 Main Street: An Empty Storefront Transformed by Art

During the festival, Christina Varga is transforming the former hardware store at 52 Main Street into a large-scale installation and exhibition space. Its expansive storefront windows will become a highly visible gallery filled with painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, video, projection, and site-specific works.

Joining Varga is artist and curator Aleksandra Scepanovic, co-founder of Site:Seen Arts, whose work transforms vacant storefronts into unexpected spaces for contemporary art. Scepanovic will bring her signature approach to light and installation, including an expansive array of lights designed to transform 52 Main Street after dark. Together, Varga and Scepanovic will turn an empty storefront into an immersive art experience that invites festivalgoers—and anyone walking down Main Street—to stop, look, and discover something unexpected.

A New Chapter for Film in Phoenicia

One of the festival’s most exciting areas of growth is film. Film screenings were introduced during the third annual festival in 2025, when award-winning shorts were presented at the Phoenicia Playhouse. That initial screening series served as a soft launch for what is now developing into the Phoenicia Film Festival, with a formal submission process inviting filmmakers to bring bold, original, and meaningful short-form cinema to the Catskills. The Second Annual Film Screening Series returns August 21–23, culminating in a short-film showcase and awards presentation on Sunday.

But the vision goes beyond simply watching movies.

Audiences won’t just be watching—they’ll help choose one of the winners. Everyone attending the Official Selection screenings will receive an Audience Favorite ballot and can vote for their favorite film after all selections have been shown. The winning film will be announced during the Awards Ceremony alongside honors for Best Woman Directed Short, Best Animated Short, Best Experimental Short, Best Art Short, and the Audience Favorite Award.

Filmmakers are encouraged to build experiences around their screenings—from Q&As and panel discussions to live performances, artist appearances, and audience participation. It’s an approach that fits naturally within the festival’s larger mission: connecting creative work with the people who make it and the community experiencing it.

The Phoenicia Playhouse: Where History Meets a New Generation of Film

There’s something particularly fitting about watching independent cinema inside the Phoenicia Playhouse. Home to the Shandaken Theatrical Society, the building at 10 Church Street dates to 1887, when it was constructed by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Today, it remains one of the Catskills’ enduring cultural gathering places.

The film program takes center stage on Sunday, August 23, beginning at 2:00 PM. The afternoon opens with screenings of the festival’s Official Selection short films, followed by the inaugural Phoenicia Film Festival Awards Ceremony and a special showcase of work by Featured Local Filmmaker Jack Warren.

Featured Filmmaker: Gustavo von Ha
This year’s film programming welcomes Gustavo von Ha, a Brazilian multidisciplinary visual artist whose work moves between cinema, visual art, performance, public space, and digital culture. His participation reflects the increasingly ambitious scope of a festival that remains deeply connected to Phoenicia while creating opportunities for conversations with artists working far beyond the Catskills.

Meet Me in Phoenicia, NY

Surrounded by the Catskills and just about two hours north of New York City, the hamlet of Phoenicia already has the intimate scale, creative spirit, independent businesses, and mountain-town personality that make wandering part of the fun. During the Phoenicia Festival of the Arts, those ingredients come together across an entire weekend.

Most importantly, the festival offers something increasingly valuable: an opportunity to experience art alongside the people who make it. What started four years ago as a community arts gathering continues to evolve into something larger—without losing the local connections that make it distinctly Phoenicia.

Make a day of it. Better yet, make a weekend of it—and experience Phoenicia when art takes over the town.

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4th Annual Phoenicia Festival of the Arts | Where Contemporary Art Meets Community Life
August 21–23, 2026
Phoenicia, New York

Photos Courtesy of Phoenicia Festival of the Arts

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Book your stay in the Catskills! Places to Stay in and Around Phoenicia

The Graham & Co. | @thegrahamandco

The Shandaken Inn | @shadakeninn

Phoenicia Lodge | @phoenicialodge

Howland House | @howlandhousecatskills

Emmerson Resort & Spa | @emersonresort

Foxfire Mountain House | @foxfiremountainhouse

The Leeway | @theleeway 

The Bend | @thebendcatskills

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