THE ARTS  ARTS ALIVE! HANCOCK COUNTY

Art nourishes our souls, connects our community, and transforms the world.

You are invited to join us on April 15, 2023 where you’ll find something for visitors of all ages! Be sure to stop by the info booth to grab a program with up to date festival info. Oh, and bring a wagon; you can have a great day in the Bay and get your holiday shopping done, too! For artists, demonstrators and volunteers who would like to be included in ARTS ALIVE! 2023, click here. 

With multiple performance stages, an amazing MakerSpace, a long Artist Trail filled with wonderful art and amazing selling and shopping opportunities, the festival gets better and bigger each year.  Using participant and festival goer feedback, Hancock Arts continues to make each Arts Alive! Festival better than the last. 

Our motto is Celebrating Art, Engaging Communities, Enriching Lives.  #Arts Alive BSL is celebrating art by showcasing some of the region's best professional artists.  Along our Artists & Artisans Trail, artists and artisans will be showing and selling their art throughout the Depot Arts District along Blaize Avenue in front of the fabulous newly renovated grounds of The Historic Depot. 

Thanks to our partners and sponsors, we are engaging communities by encouraging the next generation of artists. Exhibitions by Hancock County students will be on display in The Community Hall.   Through our Teaching Artists, we are enriching lives by offering demonstrations by local artists in the MakerSpace area, also located in The Community Hall.  Admission to #Arts Alive BSL is free and open to the public.  Cash prizes are awarded to the top three winners in the Culinary Dessert Competition held in The Community Hall at 2:00 PM the day of the festival.

Remember, April 15, 2023 - Admission is free. Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and, as always, #ArtsAlive is family friendly!

How did we get here?

Arts Alive!, Hancock County’s premiere arts festival, got its start back in 2004 as a studio tour of members of The Arts, Hancock County.  As with most events of this nature, Arts Alive! started small and encompassed much of the Bay St. Louis historic downtown. By 2019, the festival was bursting at the seams and it seemed evident that a new venue would have to be found. COVID interrupted any plans to grow the festival and, like so many other events, was put on hold.

But not for long! The Arts, Hancock County Board of Directors put their heads together to evaluate the situation. Then, through the unexpected and kind donation of local art lover Mamie Hillery, The Arts, Hancock County was able to purchase a permanent home in the heart of the Historic Depot District on Blaize Avenue. The choice was obvious; Arts Alive! must move to the Depot District!  Blaize Avenue, already the home to the Alice Mosley and Mardi Gras Museums, as well as the Historic Depot, Bay St. Louis Little Theatre, the Tourism Bureau, The Bay Artists Co-op and now The Arts, Hancock County, would quickly become known as the Historic Depot Arts District.