Artists of all ages and disciplines are welcome to enter the Bucktown Arts Fest poster contest! Over the years we’ve had a spectacular range of artistic styles applied to our “mascot” and to represent our weekend celebration of art and community. We can’t wait to see what you come up with this year. The contest closes Sunday, May 31 so don’t delay!

2026 Bucktown Arts Fest Poster contest

  • Anyone can enter the poster contest–you do not have to be a registered fest artist to enter! You don’t even have to live in Chicago, Illinois, or the Midwest!

  • A goat – it’s what our neighborhood was named after!

    The following text must be CLEARLY displayed on your poster:

    39th Annual Bucktown Arts Fest

    August 29-30, 2026

    11am – 7pm

    Holstein Park

    2200 N. Oakley

    Free Admission

    www.bucktownartsfest.com

  • Something related to the arts or Chicago

    “Art ● Music ● Dance ● Craft Beer ● Kid Fun”

    “A neighborhood celebration of the arts”

  • Your work will become the face of the Bucktown Arts Fest. It’ll be featured on posters, shirts, our website, across our social media channels and more. By entering this contest, you agree that the Bucktown Arts Fest may reproduce the winning image for promotion, merchandise, advertisement and/or publicity of the Festival. We may also use certain elements from your poster on their own.

  • Your poster submission should be designed for a 12x18” poster. Your initial submission should be a .jpg file, which can be condensed for size. If you win the contest we’ll contact you to send a full-size, hi-resolution (300 dpi) CMYK file in .ai, .pdf, .psd, or .tif format. To submit, please send a .jpg of your entry to posters@bucktownartsfest.com. The contest is live now and closes on May 31.

  • The BAF committee will review all submissions and vote for their favorite poster. The winner of the contest will choose between a $300 prize OR a free booth space at this year’s fest if you’re already a juried and approved artist.

    Contest winners who are a part of the fest will also be placed in a premium booth spot next to the info tent, so that we can easily point fans of your poster art (which will be sold on posters and t-shirts) to purchase more of your work!

If you have any other questions about the contest just reach out to posters@bucktownartsfest.com.