The upcoming Artscape festival in Baltimore is set to continue its downtown tradition in 2027, maintaining the same layout it has utilized for the past two years. The event will once again take place over the Memorial Day weekend, as confirmed by festival organizers.
Robyn Murphy, CEO of Create Baltimore, which was formerly known as the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA), informed the board during a recent meeting that preparations for the 2027 festival are already underway. This annual gathering is recognized as one of the largest outdoor arts festivals across the nation.
Following the board meeting, Murphy mentioned that the festival will retain the same footprint as it did in 2025 and 2026. This area encompasses War Memorial Plaza, located to the east of City Hall; the War Memorial building at 101 S. Gay St.; and the space beneath the Jones Falls Expressway, which hosts the weekly Baltimore Farmers’ Market.
Moreover, Murphy clarified that the festival will again occur during the weekend preceding Memorial Day, which falls on May 31 in 2027. Should some activities commence on a Thursday, as they have in previous years, the festival will take place from May 27 to May 30.
Artscape relocated downtown in 2025 after being hosted for many years in the Mount Royal and Station North neighborhoods. The shift was encouraged by Mayor Brandon Scott and his team as part of the Downtown Rise! initiative, designed to enhance Baltimore’s downtown area. Furthermore, moving the festival to the Memorial Day weekend marked its transition to the start of a series of summer festivities, including the AFRAM festival in June and Charm City Live in September.
Create Baltimore functions as an independent arts agency, acting as the official arts council for the city. Recently, Baltimore’s Board of Estimates approved a request from the Mayor’s Office to extend a contract with the agency for an additional year to support arts-related events and programs, including the upcoming Artscape.
Initially, the contract designated BOPA, now operating as Create Baltimore, to serve as the “City Arts agency,” responsible for providing essential services to the city’s “creative community” from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. The recent amendment extends this collaboration with the Mayor’s Office until June 30, 2027.
During her leadership, former BOPA CEO Donna Drew Sawyer had proposed the idea of rotating Artscape’s location each year rather than confining it to a specific area. This concept aimed to harness the influence of art to stimulate economic growth throughout various neighborhoods in Baltimore. However, Sawyer, who resigned in 2023, saw her idea remain unimplemented after Mayor Scott expressed a loss of confidence in her leadership capabilities.
