The Merriweather Arts & Culture Center (MACC) is proud to present the Columbia Festival of the Arts annual FREE LAKEFEST WEEKEND June 12-14, 2026! We’re ready to jumpstart your summer with a free, three-day extravaganza featuring multiple performances from the vertical dance company EVENTI VERTICALI (Italy), live music on the new LakeStage, an invitational fine arts and crafts show, food trucks, a beer & wine garden, participatory workshops, and a variety of activities for all ages.The full lineup is now available at columbiafestival.org Three Days of Music on the LakeStage
Known for her collaborations with Prince, Quincy Jones, and John Mayer, powerhouse bassist, vocalist, and songwriter NIK WEST will grace the LakeStage with her genre-defying blend of funk, rock, and soul. Also experience Canadian singer-songwriter ARIEL POSEN, heralded "a modern-day musical virtuoso" by Rolling Stone, and THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE, whose groundbreaking performances of centuries-old musical traditions show why UNESCO has proclaimed the language, dance, and music of the Garifuna people of Central America a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”
FREE LakeFest Weekend Hours:
Friday, June 12: 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 13: 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 14: 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
eVenti Verticali Presents SPHERE
After spellbinding performances at LakeFest 2018, the gravity-defying Italian aerialists return to the FREE LakeFest Weekend with SPHERE, a thrilling new spectacle featuring dancers suspended 60 feet above the ground. Combining street theater and vertical dance, SPHERE takes the audience on a unique journey of hope, destruction, and rebirth, prompting reflection on the fragility of life and our impact on Earth.
Sphere is a powerful environmental-themed performance that tells the story of a lone astronaut who, discouraged by the devastation of Earth caused by environmental degradation and over-reliance on technology, embarks on a mission to seed a new planet. In the silence of space, the seed grows, becoming SPHERE, a new planet inhabited by aerial dancers. Life on the planet flourishes, observed from four moons that watch over its growth. But when SPHERE reaches its peak, man’s greedy instincts threaten to extinguish this spark of life. The astronaut, blinded by his lust, drains SPHERE’S life energy, but the planet’s inhabitants do not give up. Together, they find new strength and prepare to return home to Earth.
SPHERE Performance Times:
Friday, June 12: 9:20 p.m. – 9:50 p.m.
Saturday, June 13: 12:55 p.m. – 1:25 p.m. & 9:20 p.m. – 9:50 p.m.
Sunday, June 14: 12:55 p.m. – 1:25 p.m.
Fine Art & Crafts Show & Sale
Our juried, invitational show returns with more than 50 extraordinary artisans displaying and selling their one-of-a-kind artwork representing a breadth of media including functional and wearable art at a wide range of prices. Booths located throughout the Festival grounds.
Fine Arts Show Hours:
Friday, June 12: 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 13: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 14: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
KidzArt – FREE Arts and Crafts
Presented in Partnership with KidzArt Howard County
Children are invited to explore the visual arts with “artrageously” fun projects led by KidzArt, Howard County’s celebrated advocates of child creativity. Parents must remain with children during each activity. Permanent, non-washable materials may be used. Crayons and paper will be available for younger children. On-site registration is required as space is limited. Saturday, 12:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m and Sunday, 12:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Color the LakeFest Monster Mural!
Returning to LakeFest this year is the 16’ x 5’ life-sized coloring wall for attendees to color with washable markers all weekend long. It brings a little childhood to adults, and gives kids coloring on a scale they've never seen before!
Umbrellas Abound at LakeFest
Hosted by Columbia Association Art Center
Enjoy viewing a variety of decorated golf umbrellas outlining Lake Kittamaqundi near the boat dock. Using golf umbrellas as canvases, community members and groups created 60 colorful works of art inspired by the theme Celebrating the UNITY of CommUNITY through Nature’s Magnificence. The final curtain will fall on this year’s umbrella show as a brand new and exciting theme art project will be ushered in for 2027, Columbia’s 60th Birthday year. Stay tuned for more information on it!
Interact with the Maryland Music JukeBox Presented by Roll Up N Dye
Experience music in a new interactive way. Our friends at Roll Up N Dye are exploring the ways that music is connected to our range of human emotions. Come share more about how music makes you feel while contributing to our Maryland jukebox playlist. Also don’t forget to help us decorate our retro CD wall while sharing more about your own music memories.
Pinot's Palette Lakefront Memory Boards
Paint your LakeFest Memories! People of all ages can share their thoughts and images of the festival by painting them on a large canvas board. Pinot's Palette will provide all the supplies for this activity. The collaborative works of art will be on display at the Pinot's Palette Studio following LakeFest weekend. Pinot’s Palette will be on-hand each day of LakeFest.
Visit the Emotional Support Human Sculpture
Sponsored by the Horizon Foundation, this dynamic sculpture encourages individuals to reflect on their emotional well-being through communal sharing and witnessing. Participants choose color coded plaques with words or images or write personal phrases that express how they are feeling and place them on the “emotional support human” figures.
Festival Parking
Free parking (including Accessible Parking) available nearby at the Wincopin Circle parking garages. Visitors can also park at the Sterrett Place lot located at 5575 Sterrett Place. PLEASE DO NOT PARK AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET.
Event Venue
Columbia Lakefront, 10223 Wincopin Cir, Columbia, MD 21044-3408, United States
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
