RESOURCES FOR ARTISTS

We have put together a number of resources on this page to support artists with promoting their attendance at the Mammoth Lakes Arts on the 4th Festival.

There are items to help you build out social media posts and there is also a request form to partner with us to be featured on the Mammoth Lakes Recreation social media channels.

RESOURCES FOR ARTISTS

EVENT INFORMATION

Since 1977, the Mammoth Lakes Arts on the 4th Festival has been a beloved local tradition, set in the heart of Mammoth Lakes—a vibrant mountain community tucked into California’s Eastern Sierra. Held on the town’s most prominent corner, Main Street and Old Mammoth Road, in the parking lot of Footloose Sports, this long-running event is cherished by artists and visitors alike for its warm atmosphere and its commitment to showcasing high-quality, handcrafted art.

Each year, the festival brings together 50–70 talented artists and welcomes upward of 10,000 visitors from across the region. On July 4th, the annual town parade passes directly alongside the festival, creating an energetic, festive surge of patrons.

Just four hours north of Los Angeles—and only an hour from Yosemite’s eastern entrance—Mammoth Lakes is known for world-class hiking, biking, and water activities. The 4th of July is the town’s busiest weekend of the year, drawing thousands who come to enjoy the Festival, the Annual 4th of July Parade, fireworks, and endless outdoor recreation.

As a signature fundraiser that supports year-round arts programming, Mammoth Lakes Arts on the 4th takes great pride in curating exceptional artists and offering attendees delicious food, live music, and creative activities for all ages. It’s a vibrant celebration of art, community, and the mountain spirit that makes Mammoth Lakes truly special.

APPLICATION INFORMATION

  • Call for Entry - OPENS:
    1/6/2026


    Call for Entry - CLOSES:
    3/15/2026 - midnight


    Jury Notifications Made:
    4/18/2026


    Confirmation and Booth Fee Deadline:
    05/17/2026


    Refund Deadline:
    6/01/2026


    Vendor Set-up:
    7/1/2026
    (set up times will be assigned based on booth location)

  • Thursday, July 2 - 10am - 6pm

    Friday, July 3 - 10am - 6pm

    Saturday, July 4 - 9am - 5pm

    Sunday, July 5 - 10am - 3pm


    subject to change

  • Corner of Main St. and Old Mammoth Road

    (Footloose Sports Parking Lot)

    3043 Main Street, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

    • Extensive marketing in key media outlets throughout California including: print, digital, and social

    • Festival event page includes artist bio-page, directory, and websites

    • Complementary water and discounts at festival food and beverage

  • Booth Space and Conditions:

    • Booth space is 10’X10’. All booths will be located on a flat, paved area.

    • Artists must provide their own 10’x10’ white tents which must be weighted or tied down in case of wind, with a minimum of 40-pound weights per leg.

    • Electricity is provided to a very limited number of exhibitors at no cost to the artist. Artists must provide their own electrical cords, which must be UL-rated, for exterior use. Artists who bring non-outdoor rated cords will not be allowed to connect to electricity. There will be no exceptions. Artists who connect to electricity with non-rated cords and cause the electric grid to go down will be asked to leave, all fees forfeited, and will not be invited to return.

    Fees:

    Application/Jury: No Fee

    Standard Booth (10’x10’): $500

    Double Booth (10’x20’): $900

    Cancellation Information:

    Absolutely no booth fee refunds will be made after June 1. Special circumstances may be reviewed by Mammoth Lakes Recreation. Any refunds after June 1 will be made minus a $75 administrative fee.

  • Average number of applications submitted each year:

    70

    Average number of artists selected from the jury to participate in the event:

    55

    Average number of exempt from jury artists who are invited to participate in the event:

    10

    How returning artists are selected:

    History of participation and/or selected by show director or board

    Vendors that are excluded/ineligible:

    Buy-Sell, Corporate, MLM Companies

    How images are viewed by jurors:

    Computer monitor

    Within a medium category, applications are sorted and viewed by:

    Random Order

    Jurors score applications using the following scale:

    Yes, No, or Maybe

    1 - 5

    Number of jurors scoring applications:

    5-7

    The show organizes the jurors for a:

    Single jury panel that scores applications for all medium categories. Jurors score convened as a group in one room.

  • The Arts on the 4th Festival does not provide accommodation options or discounts for exhibitors.

    We DO NOT have an option for overnight parking of any kind this year.

    We are also unable to provide dedicated parking for all exhibitors. Please secure your own camping or lodging right away.

POLICIES

  • An artist, who is selected by the jury and accepts our invitation to exhibit, has implicitly agreed to the terms and conditions as set forth under Rules/Regulations and Legal Agreement.

  • Please read the category descriptions carefully. Jurors and Mammoth Lakes Recreation reserve the right to reassign an artist’s chosen category. Please feel free to call or email with questions.

    IMPORTANT: All work exhibited must be created by the applying artist in his or her own studio. There are very limited exceptions.

    Artists may ONLY exhibit work in the juried category. Jewelry may ONLY be exhibited by juried artists in the Jewelry category.

    ALL ARTISTS: PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY TO AVOID MISUNDERSTANDING.

    Email or call with questions.

    Commercially-produced items bearing your art ARE NOT PERMITTED at the Arts on the 4th Festival. Examples include coasters, cutting boards, mousepads, drinking glasses or mugs, books, etc. If you have questions, please call the director for clarification. Lab-produced note cards are permitted in limited amounts if the images reflect the photography, painting, drawing, etc., that was juried. Mono Arts Council reserves the right to consult with the artist on fixtures in the booth before invitation acceptance. Work submitted for jury must be completed within the last 3 years.

    Ceramics/Clay:

    All original clay and porcelain work other than jewelry. No machine-made or mass-produced work is permitted.

    Digital:

    Any original work for which the artist, using a computer, executed the original image or the manipulation of other original source material. Work must be in limited editions, signed and numbered on archival quality materials. Note: Traditional photographs taken through digital media should apply in the photography category.

    Fiber:

    All work crafted from fibers including basketry, embroidery, weaving, leatherwork, tapestry, and papermaking.

    Glass:

    Hand-blown or fused. No forms of mass production are permitted. Jewelry must jury in the Jewelry category.

    Jewelry:

    All jewelry, whether produced from metal, glass, clay, fiber, paper, plastic or other materials. No commercial casts, molds or production studio work. Work must be produced in the artist’s studio. Commercially purchased clasps or chains are acceptable.

    Metal:

    Non-sculptural and non-jewelry metal work. No production studio work is permitted. Jewelry must jury in the Jewelry category.

    2-Dimensional Mixed Media:

    2D works that incorporate more than one type of physical material to produce. Includes non-sculptural work as determined by the artist.

    3-Dimensional Mixed Media:

    3-dimensional works that incorporate more than one type of physical material to produce. Includes non-sculptural work as determined by the artist.

    Painting: (Oil, Watercolor, Acrylic, Pastels):

    Works created in oils, acrylics, watercolor, etc., on paper, canvas, gesso board, etc.

    Photography:

    Photographic prints made from the artist's original image, which have been processed by that artist are included in this category. Photographers are required to disclose both their creative and printing processes on any prints, which have been properly signed. Significantly digitally manipulated photography should apply in Digital.

    Sculpture:

    Three-dimensional original work done in any medium, including built-up works in wood. Jewelry must jury in the Jewelry category.

    Wood:

    Original hand-tooled, machine-worked, turned or carved work. Jewelry must jury in the Jewelry category.

    Works on Paper (Drawing/Graphics/Printmaking):

    Printed or hand-drawn works for which the artist's hand manipulated the paper, plates, stones or screens, and which have been properly signed and numbered as a limited edition. Printmakers are required to disclose both their creative and printmaking processes. Pastel artists should apply in Painting.

  • Five (5) images must be submitted for each individual media category.

    Four (4) images must be of individual pieces of work, produced within the last 3 years.

    One (1) image must be of the artist's booth set-up, showing overall continuity and presentation of the current body of work.

    If a booth image is not available, submit an image of a grouping of work representative of work to be exhibited. Images must accurately represent the body of the artist's work to be exhibited.

    IMPORTANT: Your booth image MUST accurately reflect the work to be exhibited. If we don't see a representation of the type of work in your booth image, you may not exhibit it.

    Also, provide a reasonable approximation of your set up. Booths that vary significantly from the booth image in quality of work, type of work, or set up will be closed. Fees will not be refunded. Please call or email with any questions.

    New artists and artists without outdoor booth images are strongly encouraged to email our staff.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

In order to secure your position in Mammoth Lakes Arts on the 4th (“the event”) please review and accept the following terms and conditions. By completing an application to the Event, and in consideration of your participation in the event, you (“participant” or “you”) acknowledge and agree that you have reviewed and accept the following terms and conditions:

  • Participants display all works at their own risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Participant shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Mammoth Lakes Recreation, its staff, volunteers, subcontractors, and other personnel (collectively the “Association”) from and against any and all claims, causes of action, demands, fines, penalties, costs, judgments or other losses, including reasonable attorney’s fees (“Claims”), including those (i) related to bodily injury and property damage that may arise from Participant’s participation in the Event to the extent that any Claims are attributed to any acts or omissions by Participant or anyone employed, contracted or under Participant’s direction, directly or indirectly by any of them or by anyone for whose acts any of them may be liable, (ii) related in any way to Participant’s merchandise or property, (iii) Participant’s violation of these terms and conditions, or (iv) Participant’s violation of any applicable law, ordinance, rule, regulation or other.

    Mammoth Lakes Recreation reserves the right to remove any Participant at its sole discretion without refund for violation of any Participant Contract regulations.

  • Absolutely no mass produced or manufactured work, buy/sell, workshop art, business with commercial representatives, dealers or manufacturers may exhibit. If the event committee suspects for any reason that an exhibiting Participant works outside the aforementioned rules in its sole discretion, the event committee will file an inquiry with the Participant and reserves the right to withdraw the Participant from future shows in its sole discretion.

    In the case of offset reproductions, the original juried work is preferred on site. All offset printed reproductions must be labeled as such with a clear definition of the reproduction process visibly displayed to the public.

    The event reserves the right to request that you remove any work that does not fall within these guidelines. You may only exhibit work that reflects the medium and category in which you were juried.

  • Exhibitor must have a current California resale number.

    Participants are responsible for collecting 7.75% Town of Mammoth Lakes sales tax.

  • a) Unloading

    • Unloading times will be assigned the week prior to the Festival. Please arrive promptly at the start of your unloading time to park and unload your entire booth set up & sellables.

    • Please plan accordingly by bringing a hand cart, dolly, wagon, or other non-motorized option for transporting your items to your booth space.

    • Unload completely and then move your vehicle PRIOR to setting up your booth.

    • You may temporarily park around Footloose Sports ONLY during your designated load-in time on the day prior to the show. Your vehicle may be ticketed or towed if it is improperly parked or performing an illegal maneuver.

    b) Set Up

    • You may set up your booth and display only after you have moved your car to a legal parking space away from the immediate vicinity of the festival site. You can stay to set up your booth for as long as you need to.

    c) Teardown

    • Tear down may begin any time after the Festival’s official closing time. Participants must not close their booths or pack before this time. Booths must be open for business during the advertised festival hours throughout the entire weekend.

    d) Loading Out

    • Please tear down and pack up your entire booth and display BEFORE moving your vehicle into a nearby parking space.

  • THERE IS NO PARTICIPANT PARKING WITHIN FOOTLOOSE SPORTS PARKING LOT AND IN THE MAMMOTH GATEWAY CENTER PARKING LOT AFTER YOUR DESIGNATED SET-UP TIME AND DURING OPERATING HOURS OF THE FESTIVAL.

    These spaces immediately around the show site are for shopping patrons. Please respect your fellow Participants and patrons by moving your vehicles and trailers promptly after unloading. Please park in the Park and Ride lot up the street. The Park and Ride lot is 0.2 miles from the Festival.

    If you are found parking in the Mammoth Gateway Center Parking Lot during the festival, you will be asked to remove your vehicle and noted for not complying to the event rules. If you do not do so immediately or continue to park in the Mammoth Gateway Center lot, Mammoth Lakes Recreation reserves the right to refuse future acceptance to the event on this basis.

  • Participants must arrive at the festival equipped with their own, well-secured, canopy tent for their 10’x10’ or 20’x10’ booth space setup. Participants must furnish their own display facilities. Stakes and weights MUST be used. Moderate to high winds are likely. When weighting your tent, you must have at least 40 pounds per leg. We can experience unpredictable mountain weather. Be prepared! You are responsible for liability and personal property insurance. No printed “Sale” or “Discount”-type signage is allowed on or in the tents.

  • Electricity is available to a very limited number of exhibitors. Access will be granted on a first come, first served basis by request.

  • Participants are required to clean up their booth space of all trash (micro and macro) and haul it to the Event Dumpster at the end of each day. Please help to protect our wildlife and pristine mountain community and do not leave trash next to the dumpsters. We appreciate your help in keeping the festival space clean.

    The event will not tolerate trash left behind. Any participant who leaves trash behind in their booth space will be charged a clean-up fee of $50.

  • If there is a medical emergency, please call 911 and then notify the Festival Director. For minor cuts and bruises the Mammoth Lakes Recreation (MLR) Information Booth is equipped with a first aid kit. Lost children should be directed to the MLR Information Booth where volunteers will contact the Festival Director.

  • Participant agrees that Mammoth Lakes Recreation (MLR) may photograph film and/or record Participant (including without limitation Participant’s name, likeness, artwork, products or other copyrightable material, Participant’s trade names, trademarks, any personal identifying information which the Association may gather, including without limitation, biographical or narrative information, voice, conversations and/or any sounds Participant makes (collectively, the “Participant Materials”), and MLR may edit, enhance, recreate and/or modify the Participant Materials and include the Participant Materials in any MLR materials, in any and all means and media, now known or hereafter devised and in all languages, throughout the universe in perpetuity.