For the third year in a row, a big Iowa art festival has been recognized as one of the best in America! The Des Moines Arts Festival is one of USA Today’s 10Best Art Festivals for 2026!
About the Des Moines Arts Festival
According to the official website, the Des Moines Arts Festival is “more than an event – it’s an experience.” Its roots can be traced to 1958, when the Des Moines Art Center put on its first Art in the Park event. It continued until 1998, when the festival underwent a revitalization that included a name and location change. Since then, the festival has only continued to grow, bringing in around 200,000 people each year!
The Des Moines Arts Festival was ranked 10th on USA Today’s list of the best art festivals across the U.S.! It also made the list in 2024 and 2025. Here’s what USA Today wrote about the big event:
“The state’s largest arts and culture event, the Des Moines Arts Festival hosts nearly 200 of the nation’s top artists, showing their work in a downtown location amid the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park and the Krause Gateway Center. The festival has won several Grand Pinnacle Awards from the International Festivals and Events Association.”…