What is Columbia Festival of the Arts?

The Columbia Festival of the Arts is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit. Founded in 1987, the Festival’s popularity and growth has transformed it into one of the Baltimore/Washington Corridor’s premiere arts events. The Festival presents both free and ticketed events, featuring world-class performances, exhibitions, The Columbia Film Festival, The Columbia Arts Channel, concerts, family activities, master classes, workshops and community dialogues. Columbia Festival of the Arts brings together the arts community, businesses, local schools, and individuals to create events that shine a spotlight, not only on the arts, but on the Howard County community as a Maryland showplace.

The mission of the Columbia Festival of the Arts is to present a world class celebration of the arts and entertainment that attracts, engages and inspires the broad and diverse community it serves.

The Columbia Festival The Arts is created and produced on the traditional lands of the Piscataway, Nentego and the Susquehannock, in the land we call home, Maryland. We hope that from wherever you are – you take a moment to acknowledge and honor the native people whose lands you are on, and the history of the place you are in. Find out more about Native Land near you: https://native-land.ca/

Columbia Festival’s Past Performers

  • Ahn Trio
  • Alex de Grassi
  • Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
  • America
  • Aquila Theatre Company
  • Architects of Air
  • Aretha Franklin
  • Arlo Guthrie
  • Arturo Sandoval
  • AudioBody
  • Ballet Hispanico
  • Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
  • Barrage
  • Beatlegras
  • BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet
  • Bettye Lavette
  • Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
  • Blood Sweat & Tears
  • Bo Diddley
  • Bobby McFerrin
  • Branford Marsalis
  • California Guitar Trio
  • Calle 54
  • Capitol Steps
  • Carrie Brown
  • Cassandra Wilson
  • Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
  • Celtic Crossroads
  • Charlotte Blake Alston
  • Chicago City Limits
  • Christopher Parkening
  • Chuck Negron
  • Cirque Carpe Diem
  • Cirque-tacular
  • Cyro Baptista & Beat the Donkey
  • Dave Brubeck Quartet
  • David Sanchez
  • Dayton Contemporary Dance Company
  • Dee Dee Bridgewater
  • Del McCoury Band
  • Dianne Schurr
  • Diavolo
  • Doug Varone and Dancers
  • East Village Opera Company
  • Ed Asner as FDR
  • Edith Pearlman
  • Eileen Ivers
  • Emmylou Harris
  • Erth Dinosaur Petting Zoo
  • Eva Cassidy
  • eVenti Verticali
  • Footworks
  • Four Bitchin’ Babes
  • Flying Karamazov Brothers
  • Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Co.
  • Gaelic Storm
  • Garrison Keillor
  • Garth Fagan Dance Company
  • Gráda
  • Hal Holbrook in “Mark Twain Tonight”
  • Harry Connick, Jr.
  • Henry Cho
  • Home Free
  • I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
  • Imago Theatre
  • Inbal Pinto
  • Indigo Girls
  • Irvin Mayfield & The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
  • Itzhak Perlman
  • Jake Shimabukuro
  • James Galway
  • John Heffron
  • John McCutcheon
  • John Waters
  • Johnson Mountain Boys
  • Jon Reep
  • Jubilant Sykes
  • Judy Collins
  • Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers
  • Ladysmith Black Mambazo
  • Laura Lippman
  • Leahy
  • Leitmotiv
  • Letters Home
  • Lily Cai Chinese Dance Company
  • Iliza Shlesinger
  • Liz Lerman Dance Exchange
  • Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba
  • Luna Negra Dance Theater
  • Man 1, Bank 0 starring Patrick Combs
  • Manil Suri
  • Manual Cinema
  • Marcel Marceau
  • MarchFourth Marching Band
  • Mark O’Connor
  • Max Roach Quartet
  • Miami City Ballet
  • Micheal Moschen
  • Mike Super
  • Mikhail Baryshnikov
  • Minnesota Dance Theatre
  • MOMIX
  • Mum Puppettheatre
  • Natalie Macmaster
  • Nebellen Dance Company
  • Nnenna Freelon
  • Next Ice Age
  • One-Man Dark Knight: A Batman Parody
  • One-Man Lord of the Rings starring Charles Ross
  • One-Man Star Wars Trilogy starring Charles Ross
  • Other Mozart
  • Parsons Dance Company
  • Patricia Smith and Sage String Quartet
  • Paul Winter Consort
  • Paula Poundstone
  • Philip Glass
  • Pilobolus Dance Theatre
  • Preservation Hall Jazz Band
  • RENO
  • Rennie Harris Puremovement
  • Robert Sabuda
  • Rosanne Cash
  • Rhythmic Circus
  • Scrap Arts Music
  • Sekou Sundiata
  • Shangri La Chinese Acrobats
  • Sheila Kohler
  • Sol y Canto
  • Sprout Films
  • Squonk Opera
  • Strange Fruit
  • STREB vs. Gravity
  • Sweet Plantain
  • Taj Mahal
  • Tango Flamenco
  • Tayari Jones
  • Terrance Simien
  • The Chenille Sisters
  • The Flying Karamazov Brothers
  • The Hampton ROCK String Quartet
  • The Holmes Brothers
  • The Intergalactic Nemesis
  • The Langston Hughes Project
  • The Manhattan Transfer
  • The Neville Brothers
  • The Peking Acrobats
  • The Reduced Shakespeare Company
  • The Second City
  • The Seldom Scene
  • The Shirelles
  • The Smothers Brothers
  • The Spencers
  • The Stoop Storytelling
  • Third World
  • Tomas Kubinek
  • True Colors – The ‘80s Musical
  • Twyla Tharp Dance
  • Ty Barnett
  • Vusi Mahlasela
  • Washington Ballet
  • Wise Fool New Mexico
  • Wynton Marsalis & The Jazz at Lincoln Center
  • Orchestra
  • Yerba Buena
  • Ahn Trio
  • Alex de Grassi
  • Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
  • America
  • Aquila Theatre Company
  • Architects of Air
  • Aretha Franklin
  • Arlo Guthrie
  • Arturo Sandoval
  • AudioBody
  • Ballet Hispanico
  • Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
  • Barrage
  • Beatlegras
  • BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet
  • Bettye Lavette
  • Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
  • Blood Sweat & Tears
  • Bo Diddley
  • Bobby McFerrin
  • Branford Marsalis
  • California Guitar Trio
  • Calle 54
  • Capitol Steps
  • Carrie Brown
  • Cassandra Wilson
  • Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
  • Celtic Crossroads
  • Charlotte Blake Alston
  • Chicago City Limits
  • Christopher Parkening
  • Chuck Negron
  • Cirque Carpe Diem
  • Cirque-tacular
  • Cyro Baptista & Beat the Donkey
  • Dave Brubeck Quartet
  • David Sanchez
  • Dayton Contemporary Dance Company
  • Dee Dee Bridgewater
  • Del McCoury Band
  • Dianne Schurr
  • Diavolo
  • Doug Varone and Dancers
  • East Village Opera Company
  • Ed Asner as FDR
  • Edith Pearlman
  • Eileen Ivers
  • Emmylou Harris
  • Erth Dinosaur Petting Zoo
  • Eva Cassidy
  • eVenti Verticali
  • Footworks
  • Four Bitchin’ Babes
  • Flying Karamazov Brothers
  • Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Co.
  • Gaelic Storm
  • Garrison Keillor
  • Garth Fagan Dance Company
  • Gráda
  • Hal Holbrook in “Mark Twain Tonight”
  • Harry Connick, Jr.
  • Henry Cho
  • Home Free
  • I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
  • Imago Theatre
  • Inbal Pinto
  • Indigo Girls
  • Irvin Mayfield & The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
  • Itzhak Perlman
  • Jake Shimabukuro
  • James Galway
  • John Heffron
  • John McCutcheon
  • John Waters
  • Johnson Mountain Boys
  • Jon Reep
  • Jubilant Sykes
  • Judy Collins
  • Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers
  • Ladysmith Black Mambazo
  • Laura Lippman
  • Leahy
  • Leitmotiv
  • Letters Home
  • Lily Cai Chinese Dance Company
  • Iliza Shlesinger
  • Liz Lerman Dance Exchange
  • Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba
  • Luna Negra Dance Theater
  • Man 1, Bank 0 starring Patrick Combs
  • Manil Suri
  • Manual Cinema
  • Marcel Marceau
  • MarchFourth Marching Band
  • Mark O’Connor
  • Max Roach Quartet
  • Miami City Ballet
  • Micheal Moschen
  • Mike Super
  • Mikhail Baryshnikov
  • Minnesota Dance Theatre
  • MOMIX
  • Mum Puppettheatre
  • Natalie Macmaster
  • Nebellen Dance Company
  • Nnenna Freelon
  • Next Ice Age
  • One-Man Dark Knight: A Batman Parody
  • One-Man Lord of the Rings starring Charles Ross
  • One-Man Star Wars Trilogy starring Charles Ross
  • Other Mozart
  • Parsons Dance Company
  • Patricia Smith and Sage String Quartet
  • Paul Winter Consort
  • Paula Poundstone
  • Philip Glass
  • Pilobolus Dance Theatre
  • Preservation Hall Jazz Band
  • RENO
  • Rennie Harris Puremovement
  • Robert Sabuda
  • Rosanne Cash
  • Rhythmic Circus
  • Scrap Arts Music
  • Sekou Sundiata
  • Shangri La Chinese Acrobats
  • Sheila Kohler
  • Sol y Canto
  • Sprout Films
  • Squonk Opera
  • Strange Fruit
  • STREB vs. Gravity
  • Sweet Plantain
  • Taj Mahal
  • Tango Flamenco
  • Tayari Jones
  • Terrance Simien
  • The Chenille Sisters
  • The Flying Karamazov Brothers
  • The Hampton ROCK String Quartet
  • The Holmes Brothers
  • The Intergalactic Nemesis
  • The Langston Hughes Project
  • The Manhattan Transfer
  • The Neville Brothers
  • The Peking Acrobats
  • The Reduced Shakespeare Company
  • The Second City
  • The Seldom Scene
  • The Shirelles
  • The Smothers Brothers
  • The Spencers
  • The Stoop Storytelling
  • Third World
  • Tomas Kubinek
  • True Colors – The ‘80s Musical
  • Twyla Tharp Dance
  • Ty Barnett
  • Vusi Mahlasela
  • Washington Ballet
  • Wise Fool New Mexico
  • Wynton Marsalis & The Jazz at Lincoln Center
  • Orchestra
  • Yerba Buena