Thank you for another successful
North Country Arts Festival!
The North Country Arts Festival brought the community of St. Lawrence County together to celebrate the arts. This county-wide festival encourages tourism and economic activity throughout St. Lawrence County by showcasing our arts industry, a critical component of our regional identity. To best serve the entire North Country community, we look forward to growing and improving the festival for 2026 through decentralization, new program development, fundraising events, and children’s art programming.
The festival will continue to feature historically significant programs, such as Porchfest and the Ives Park Concert Series, Community Mural Fundraiser, Movie Night, NoCo Glow & Luminary Walk, Art Market, Arts Wellness Day, and Poetry SLAM.
NoCo & Glow and Luminary Walk in Garner Park
We kicked off the festival with a brand new event: NoCo Glow.
From Ives Park area, up Market Street, and down Raymond St into Garner Park, the community kicked off NoCoAF with a variety of creative performances of music, dance, and theater, concluding with a luminary walk down to Garner Park. Attendees also had a chance to make their own custom luminaries throughout the day!
2025 NOCOAF Poetry Slam Winners
🎤Thank you to all the Poets who participated!🎤
First Place – Kayla Riley
Second Place – Donald McNutt
Third Place – Alesa Bernat
What an evening of rhythm, wordplay, and powerful voices at the NoCoAF Poetry SLAM! Local poets took the floor to share original work that was unforgettable. It was a blast to see how the audience voting moved around poets during ranking and we cannot wait for more poetry events. Watch out for readings, Haiku Slams, and writer’s group on the schedule.
PorchFest 2025
The 2025 North Country Arts Festival’s annual PorchFest had 200+ attendees throughout Potsdam!
About Potsdam PorchFest:
PorchFest originated in Ithaca, New York, in 2007 and has since spread to various cities and towns across the world. This community-based music festival is held in residential neighborhoods where local musicians volunteer to perform on porches, driveways, or front yards of homes.
Potsdam PorchFest is free and open to the public. Performances take place from 12 to 5:30pm on various porches across the Potsdam Residential Neighborhood.
Ives Park Art Market & Art Wellness Day
2025 Vendors and Nonprofits
- Foster the Plant
- Betty and Pat Hendrick Original Art and Cards
- Melody Sample
- Red Barn Pottery Co.
- OSSU Wear
- Glassified
- Dom’s Studio
- Chocolate Dragon Paper Arts
- Potsdam Pride
- Chitraa.Art
- Laura Crowley
- Zoe Brothers Art
- Nav Atkinson
- Chi Chi Bags/Carol Griffin
- Alesa Bernat
- St. Lawrence County Historical Association
- Bearcatfish
- The Fairy Garden – Morgan Doyle
- Back in Gear: Threadworks
- Cotton and Candy
- Third Wheel Pottery
- Honey Creeper Company
- Goblin’s Market
- Shmootopia
2025 Ives Park Concert Series
SIRSY lifted us higher with their incredible harmonies and out-of-this-world energy. Their music inspired us all — from the first note to the last and had us dreaming big right under the summer sky.
Animal Crackers created the ultimate kids dance party in Ives Park!
Beartracks had the crowd feeling the music from the lawn all the way down the river! It was an unforgettable evening — by the end of the night, they even had some of our audience up singing with them.
The Ives Park Concert series concluded with 300+ attendees for the Best of Punk Show, featuring favorites from the monthly SLC Arts shows throughout 2025. Music from Worm Circus and Moosefight – two Potsdam based bands, were joined by Char of Syracuse, Horse Grave of Albany, and Sophie’s Body of Boston.
Become a sponsor or paint your own brick for our mural painting fundraiser, supporting local art in a lasting way.
Become a Friend of the Festival!
Support the arts in your community by becoming a Friend of the Festival!
Your donation helps ensure the success of the annual North Country Arts Festival, helping us bring unique programs, talented artists, and incredible performances to St. Lawrence County.
Become a Friend of the Festival for just $5! Donations of $50 or more will get your name featured in the festival program, showcasing your commitment to fostering creativity and cultural enrichment.
Join us in making this year’s NoCo Arts Festival the best one yet by donating today!
2025 Friends of the Festival:
- Lisa Dashaw
- In memory of Kendra McHenry
- Dakota Wielgasz
- Ralph Donatelli
- Sonja Jensen
- WythDryden/Jonathan Wendt
- The Gatti Family
- Angelo & Julie Costantini
- Virginia Burnett
- The Cantwell Family
- Jennifer Blewett
- David and Kathy Crowell
- Wymberley Pfalmer
- Theresa
- Liliana Trevizan Sarmiento
- Zoe Brothers
- Kathleen Fitzgerald
Interested in becoming a Festival Sponsor? Email events@slcartscouncil.org
