🎨 Panoply 2026: Major music, artists and a few firsts
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Panoply 2026 will feature some new additions this year. Photo: Courtesy Arts Huntsville
Panoply Arts Festival takes over Big Spring Park this weekend, and it's going to include some firsts for Arts Huntsville's marquee annual event.
Why it matters: The 44th year of the festival is expected to be something special, particularly on the music front.
- "The Voice" star Jazz McKenzie is headlining Friday, and the Otis Walker Band will perform a tribute to Microwave Dave Gallaher for Saturday's headlining performance.
- Gallaher, who performed at plenty of Panoply festivals, was "a really great friend of Arts Huntsville," Patricia Johnson, arts marketing and opportunity manager with Arts Huntsville, told Axios.
Catch up quick: Panoply kicks off Friday at 5pm and runs through the weekend, showcasing over a dozen bands and performers of all genres, and more than 115 artists who will set up shop in the park as part of the Art Marketplace.
- Of those artists, Panoply says, more than 30 are debuting for their first Panoply, and the list online shows folks coming from as far away as Pennsylvania, Kansas and Connecticut.
Zoom in: Among this year's additions is Unclaimed Baggage's Love Luggage Project, Johnson said.
- The project invites folks to paint suitcases to be donated to foster children transitioning to new homes.
The latest: Pane e Vino Pizzeria at the Huntsville Museum of Art is also coming on board as a vendor for the first time this year, she said.
- And the recently opened Trilogy Hotel is participating as well, Johnson said, offering Panoply-inspired drinks and a place to watch the fireworks from their eighth-floor Vesper Sky Lounge.
Pro tips: For those headed to Big Spring Park this weekend, Johnson suggests packing some sunscreen — and closed water bottles are the only food or drink allowed in from outside.
- Craft beer and wine will be available alongside a plethora of food trucks, and she encourages folks to remember their chairs and blankets.
- Strollers and wagons are permitted, but pets other than service animals aren't.
- Day passes are $15, and full weekend passes are $20.