The Novelty Collective 7th Annual Music & Arts Festival
For seven years running, we have hosted dozens of artists & artisans, musicians & poets, from Pittsburgh to Florida & everywhere in between, under one spectacular roof, over one unforgettable weekend. The Novelty Collective Music & Arts Festival (or “NoCo Fest,” for short) is the apex event of our year. The mission of our ministry is to “restore creation to its Creator,” & one big way God has called us to accomplish this is by making art affordable & accessible, illuminating the value of art, & empowering the artist (especially in church settings)—NoCo Fest checks all those boxes at once. We make art affordable & accessible by eliminating some tough barriers for starting artists who have little to no exposure or vending opportunities. We illuminate the value of art by giving artists a platform to share their creations, & we pay every musician we book at higher rates than they’re likely to find at other local venues. This year, we went the extra mile to empower the artist—but more on that to come!
We believe this beautiful intersection of artists & art appreciators with unique histories & diverse backgrounds in faith & life experience is a unique iteration of Church; however unconventional it may appear on the surface, it’s a community event where conversations about faith & beauty are carried out, prayer & worship are continuously present, & the love of Christ is communicated through intentional relationship.
NoCo Fest 2023 was a success in many ways. Friends from out of state who have been blessed by past NoCo events showed up with a readiness to serve on our core team. Each of the eight singer-songwriters, bands, & poets we invited to participate in the festival exhibited an equal amount of excitement & offered the kind of warmth & welcome to our creative community we desired to communicate throughout the weekend. Our team took special care to make all twenty-three art vendors feel seen & valued, & so did all the art vendors. Two of those vendors included students from The COVE: Afterschool, our drop-in for middle school & high school students. Another three artists were moms of our students in Afterschool!
The entire event played out very much how we envisioned it—a big family gathering full of mutual support & encouragement. Individual festival-goers were as wowed by the aesthetic beauty of our inspiring space as they were by the genuine attention our team gave to them. Performers attended each other’s sets. Vendors made purchases & bartered with other vendors because all of us wanted to buy each other’s awesome artwork. There were numerous conversations about collaboration on new projects & art pop-up events with the momentum of NoCo Fest. We are so thankful for the ways God showed up & showed off this year!
One major difference between NoCo Fest this year & in previous years is the way we chose to empower our art vendors & singer-songwriters. Art fairs & festivals in Pittsburgh (among other major cities) are notorious for astronomical table fees—that is, the cost an artist is required to pay the entity hosting the event in order to pedal their wares. With fees ranging anywhere between $100 - $1,000 & no guarantee that the artist will profit—let alone break even—this can obviously be a HUGE deterrent for talented creatives without the capital. We typically charge a $30 suggested donation at our fest, which we almost never ask for upfront; however, this year we decided to raise money & SPONSOR as many of our vendors & musicians as possible!
By the grace of God we succeeded in providing a $100 sponsorship to thirteen of our NoCo Fest participants. We are blown away by the generosity of our sponsors, & we are still celebrating the impact this money has had for the artists. We would love nothing better than to partner with even more sponsors next year & cover every artist at our festival. Please take a moment to read some the following quotes, & be sure to check out what else our sponsors are doing to support the arts & foster community.
It is a tremendous honor to host The Novelty Collective Music & Arts Festival each year, & we have no plans to stop any time soon! We love this growing creative community & all the beauty we get to see happening within. As we look to the future of NoCo, we are always dreaming bigger & better, finding ways to improve on what we do well & working toward accomplishing more than we have before. Thank you for celebrating with us, dreaming with us, & partnering with us both in prayer & finances. You are just as much a part of our family as the artists & performers that participate in our festival!
Keep checking our website & social media in the weeks to come as we share even more photos & stories from NoCo Fest 2023 (links below)—& watch your email for a more encompassing newsletter for our ministry activities coming at you soon!
Blessings,
The Novelty Collective Team
Article written by Jordan A. King
