The Covington Three Rivers Art Festival returns to the 200 through 600 blocks of Columbia Street on November 14 and 15, its 30th edition since it was founded in 1997 to bring a high-quality arts festival to the historic St. John District. Admission is free. Organizers expect more than 50,000 visitors and more than 200 juried artists.
Most coverage stops at those numbers. Households in Tchefuncta Estates and the rest of west Covington can get more from the weekend by knowing how it is built. A panel narrows the field long before anyone puts up a tent. The artists keep every dollar they take in. And the awards come out Saturday evening, which changes what Sunday is for.
The Edit Happens Months Earlier
According to the festival's 2026 artist prospectus, the show draws about 500 applications in a typical year. About 230 artists are selected by jury, and about 20 more are invited without going through the jury. The festival started with 49 exhibitors in 1997 and now hosts 200, according to the City of Covington. The street has grown, and the gate has stayed narrow.
The prospectus lays out how selection works:
- A new jury is seated each year. It has three well-known figures from the arts community plus one alternate.
- Jurors see each artist only as a number and review entries category by category. They judge only the submitted images of current work.
- Artists are accepted by point totals, highest score first within each medium. The festival may cap some categories to keep the show balanced, and the Festival Committee can assign five spots at its discretion.
- A waitlist is drawn from the jury scores. Open spots are offered from it right up to the day of the festival.
- Each artist's booth must match the quality and type of work the jury accepted. The festival can stop an artist from showing work that doesn't.
The last two points matter to anyone walking Columbia Street. The waitlist means the exact lineup can change until the weekend itself. The quality rule means the booth you see is held to the same standard as the images the jury approved. The jurors also judge the awards, so the people who chose the field also pick its winners.
Where the Money Goes
The prospectus says artists keep 100% of their sales and handle their own tax reporting. Admission is free and the festival takes no commission on sales, so a ceramic bowl or a framed print bought here pays the person who made it. That person has to be in the booth. All exhibiting artists must show for both full days and staff their own booths. Assistants may help but cannot stand in for them.
The festival itself is a 501(c)(3) public charity registered as Covington Three Rivers Art Festival. Its cash awards are modest next to the sales an artist can make over two days:
| Award | Amount | Number given |
|---|---|---|
| Best of Show | $1,000 | 1 |
| Named awards | $500 each | 4 |
| Awards of Distinction | $100 each | 15 |
Two noncash awards are also given. Winning also carries into the next year. Artists who won cash awards in 2025 were automatically juried into the 2026 festival in the categories they won, though they still had to file a full application and pay the usual fees.
Covington on Its Own Main Street
Work comes from across the country, including the Greater New Orleans area, in painting, ceramics, photography, fiber art, woodworking, metalwork, sculpture and jewelry. The 2026 poster artist is Jonah Ballard, a self-taught acrylic painter from Arizona known for his mostly pink palette. He will exhibit in the 400 block of Columbia Street.
The local side of the festival is easy to find if you know the names. The Arts Alive! program holds live demonstrations along Columbia Street near Gibson and Lockwood streets. This year's demonstrators include three artists with local ties.
- Joey Roberts, a Covington resident and City Council member, who makes detailed black-and-white drawings
- Orion Vantol, founder of Covington-based Digital Neauxmad and president of the Covington Business Association
- Gary Nunez, a St. Tammany Parish resident who hand-carves duck decoys
The Student Art Exhibit is the festival's largest local showing. It usually includes more than 400 pieces by St. Tammany Parish students, and the student competition is how the festival supports art education in the parish. The Children's Village opens at 10 a.m. both days with free activities from Painting with Rika, Culinary Kids, Northlake Christian School and Ballet Apetrei, plus Louisiana storyteller and performer Grayhawk Perkins.
"It brings nationally recognized talent together with the character and hospitality of Covington to create a weekend that feels welcoming, inspiring and truly unique to our community."
Festival Coordinator Madison Tripp said that to CityBusiness in September.
A Weekend Plan Built Around Saturday Night
Since the jury chooses the field and then judges it, the most useful moment of the weekend falls between the two show days.
Friday afternoon. Artists register at Festival Headquarters at the Covington Trailhead, 419 North New Hampshire Street. Booth setup starts at 2 p.m. Friday and finishes between 6 and 8 a.m. Saturday. Exhibitors with festival passes drive onto Columbia Street to unload, so expect setup traffic downtown Friday afternoon.
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is the full first day. Local musicians play a stage in the 300 block of Columbia Street throughout the weekend. Food and drink vendors include Meribo, Rue Chow, Coffee Rani, Kiwanis of Covington, Grandma's Kettle Corn, The Nuttery, Pour Lush and Cliff's Cocktails.
Saturday, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The artist awards party and a free public concert take place at the Covington Trailhead. Nashville-based singer-songwriter Paul Childers performs. The official schedule puts the artist awards at 5:30 p.m. Last year's festival also had a free Saturday-night concert at the Trailhead, with Tyler Kinchen & The Right Pieces.
Sunday. Anyone at the Sunday show is walking the blocks after the jury's award picks have been announced. That makes Sunday a good day to revisit a booth you saw Saturday or to look up the winners. The Student Art Awards are at 3 p.m. at the Trailhead. Check the closing time before you go. The festival's home page lists 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, but the artist prospectus lists a 4 p.m. close on Sunday. Getting there earlier in the day covers you either way.
Two rules hold for both days. The festival goes on rain or shine with no backup plan, and pets are not allowed at any time, per the Covington Police Department.
The October Events Before It
The weeks before Three Rivers are busy downtown.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thursdays, Oct. 1 to Oct. 29 | Rockin' the Rails with Amanda Shaw, Groovy 7, Whiskey Business, Yeah You Right and Rocket Men | Downtown Covington, with the Oct. 1 show at the Covington Trailhead |
| Saturday, Oct. 10, 6 to 9 p.m. | Fall for Art | St. Tammany Art Association, downtown Covington |
| Saturday, Oct. 24, 5 to 7:30 p.m. | Nightmare on Columbia Street | Check-in at the Covington Trailhead |
| Friday, Oct. 30, 6 to 9 p.m. | Columbia Street Block Party and October Trunk or Treat | Columbia Street, closed to traffic at 5 p.m. |
The Oct. 1 Rockin' the Rails show with Amanda Shaw runs 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. That is the same Trailhead where the Three Rivers artist awards will be given on Nov. 14, and Fall for Art starts the downtown art season a month ahead of the festival.
A piece bought from a juried artist on Columbia Street can anchor a room. If you are wondering how a new piece fits a home you are planning to change, or whether the home itself still fits, Puddy Robinson is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
