Skip to main content
Skip to main content
Updated 3/28/2024

Prescott Park Arts Festival

  • N

    NH

Institution/Business Type: Fair / Festival

Celebrating 50 years in 2024! The mission of the Prescott Park Arts Festival is to provide financially accessible, multi-generational, high-quality, family friendly, art and educational outreach to a large and diverse audience.

The Festival combines a grassroots, community feel with the allure that accompanies the Grammy Award winning national touring acts that grace the stage. The Festival experience is as unique as each person coming through the gates; some purchase a season pass and attend every movie, concert and see the musical again and again, while others make that annual pilgrimage from over an hour away as part of a family tradition that often spans generations. Some come once or twice a week throughout the summer, while others might come for an evening stroll through the park while their kids dance in the lawn to the soundtrack of that evening’s offerings. One thing is universal though, the Festival holds a beloved place in the hearts of all who do come through those gates. 

Thanks to the suggested donation model the Arts Festival runs on, people have the freedom to shape their own experience and enjoy so much of what makes this place special: the charm, the uniqueness, and the beauty of its Portsmouth, NH home. We are a small, but mighty arts organization in a town of barely more than 20,000 people. We are proud of the level of talent on our stage and even more so that we do it all without charging an admission price.

Prescott Park Arts Festival has raised the caliber and profile of its musicals and concerts, to include union equity actors and national touring acts. The Festival will continue to build upon the trust it has established with its audience by extending its track record of featuring less well-known, but immensely talented, artists. Some of the greatest Festival memories brought up by community members are of those less crowded nights, being introduced to a band they had not heard of previously, and being blown away by the talent and the shared community experience. What remains unchanged is the Arts Festival's deep commitment to accessibility and its pride in being the only venue on the Seacoast where folks can have that type of experience with no required ticket price. 

Find Me

Courtney Perkins (she/her)
Job Title: Executive Director
Phone: 603-436-2848
Fax: 603-436-1034
Address:
105 MARCY STREET
Portsmouth, NH 03801

Social Media:

Additional Content:

About

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Fair / Festival

Legal Status:

Nonprofit - Independent

Year Founded:

1974

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Fair / Festival

Legal Status:

Nonprofit - Independent

Year Founded:

1974

Disciplines

Primary Discipline:

Multi-Disciplinary

Additional Disciplines:

  • Music - Traditional

Activities and Services

Activities and Services:

  • Film Showings
  • Performance / Concert / Reading
  • Community Arts
  • Exhibitions
  • Artist Market
Seasons Active: summer, fall, winter
Events Per Year: 80

Communities

Populations Engaged:

  • Adults
  • Businesses
  • Elders
  • Families
  • General Public
  • Immigrant Populations
  • Incarcerated (or Formerly Incarcerated) individuals
  • LGBTQ Populations
  • Native American Tribes
  • Nonprofits
  • People with Disabilities
  • School Groups
  • Teens
  • Veteran/Active Duty Military Personnel
  • Youth-At-Risk
  • Houseless/Housing Insecure Individuals

Languages Available:

  • American Sign Language
  • English

Geographic Reach:

  • Multi-State Region

Accessibility of Services

Accessibility of Services:

  • Access accommodations for people who are Deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Access accommodations for people who use a wheelchair and have limited mobility
  • Access accommodations for people who are blind, partially sighted, and have low vision

Media Gallery

Affiliations and Accomplishments

Special Designations

Special Designations:

  • New England Presenters (NEP) Member

Special Designations

Special Designations:

  • New England Presenters (NEP) Member