OCALA, FL (352today.com) – A lot of communities, particularly in Florida, have an annual event that’s sort of unofficially recognized as the beginning of the fall-winter event season.
In Ocala, there are two. The first is the yearly return of First Friday Art Walk, which is super-local and serves as a “friends and family” soft opening to the season before the second, the Ocala Fine Arts Festival, really kicks the gates to the holiday season open.
Produced by Fine Arts For Ocala for nearly six decades, the Ocala Fine Arts Festival regularly draws in excess of 30,000 visitors and is known as North Central Florida’s premier art event. More than 140 artists from all over the country will converge on Historic Downtown this Saturday and Sunday, October 24 & 25, 2026, to showcase and sell their works; some will take home a piece of $27,000 in prize money across several competition categories.
(And we’ll just skip right over the coincidence that FAFO shares its acronym with a profane, widely used internet-culture phrase.)
In addition to artists’ booths and contests, the festival also offers the usual live music, kids’ activities and food trucks, as well as specific programs supporting student and emerging artists. The Ocala Fine Arts Festival even has its own featured artist; this year, it’s local muralist Justin Alsedek of Gypsea Arts.
The entire thing is free and open to the public and runs from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. both days. Proceeds from the event help FAFO fund various art education programs and public programming, including its annual “Symphony Under the Stars” event on Mother’s Day.
For more information, including schedules, the lineup of artists and a map of the festival, visit FAFO’s website.