After more than 50 years in Northport, the Kentuck Festival of the Arts is moving to a new location in 2024.

This year’s festival is set for Oct. 19-20 at Snow Hinton Park, off McFarland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa, Kentuck organizers said on Thursday.

The park, a 40-acre green space owned by the City of Tuscaloosa, is in the midst of a major renovation project funded by a city initiative called Elevate Tuscaloosa. The budget for the project is $13 million, according to the Elevate Tuscaloosa website. Snow Hinton Park is closed now, but renovations are expected to be completed this year, the city said in a December press release.

“The Kentuck Festival of the Arts will be held in a 10-acre section of the 40+ acre park and will feature 270+ artists, live music, spoken word, activities for children, folk and contemporary craft demonstrations, food trucks, and local craft brews,” Kentuck organizers said via a press release.

The annual festival, founded in 1971, traditionally has been held at Kentuck Park, less than a mile away from the Kentuck Arts Center at 503 Main Ave. in Northport. The Kentuck Arts Center, a nonprofit organization, is the prime mover for the festival, and the two-day event is “Kentuck’s largest revenue generator,” according to the arts center’s website.

The popular festival is one of the largest arts festivals in Alabama, attracting thousands of visitors to the site each year.

In November 2023, Kentuck organizers said the festival was looking for a new home, after contract negotiations broke down with the City of Northport and they failed to reach an agreement about the festival’s funding.

READ: After 52 years, one of Alabama’s largest art festivals is searching for a new home

“We are looking forward to hosting the 53rd Kentuck Festival in Snow Hinton Park,” Exa Skinner, executive director of the Kentuck Art Center, said via Thursday’s press release. “Hosting an event this large is no easy feat, but through Kentuck’s partnership with the City of Tuscaloosa, we’re excited to be able to continue the legacy of the Kentuck Festival of the Arts in West Alabama.”

The Kentuck festival will have a new layout at Snow Hinton Park, organizers said, with most of the artists’ booths set down along paved paths. A site map linked to the Kentuck website illustrates the new layout for the festival, and shows locations for artists’ booths, two stages, a children’s area, a shuttle drop-off point, restrooms, two reserved parking areas and more.

“A parking lot dedicated to accessible parking will be available on site,” the press release says, “and public parking will be available at no cost in neighboring lots.”