About Columbia Festival of the Arts

When Columbia, Maryland, turned 20 in 1987, community leaders organized a major celebration called “Hail Columbia” to mark the anniversary and reaffirm the town’s distinctive identity. Following the success of that celebration, a consensus emerged to establish a recurring Columbia Festival of the Arts that would represent all artistic genres, combine local and national performers, and reflect the full diversity of the community.

The Festival’s mission became to present programs of the highest artistic quality featuring distinguished nationally known artists, while producing an annual arts event that builds the spirit of community.

Since then, the Festival has grown into a world-class celebration of arts and entertainment that attracts, engages, and inspires the broad and diverse community it serves. From the free Lakefest weekend to legendary performances by artists such as Judy Collins and Aretha Franklin, as well as internationally renowned companies like Pilobolus, the Festival has enriched the cultural life of Columbia for generations.

Over the past few years, the Columbia Festival of the Arts developed a collaborative partnership with another local non-profit arts organization, the Merriweather Arts and Culture Center. This partnership helped strengthen Festival operations and culminated in a merging of the two organizations.

Today, under MACC’s leadership, the Festival continues to evolve—building on its legacy while embracing new opportunities to expand access, partnerships, and artistic excellence throughout Downtown Columbia.

MACC is working with its newly created Festival Committee comprised of long-time supporters of the Festival of the Arts to ensure the cultural legacy and impact of this programming is strengthened and enhanced for future generations.