Free Public Art Celebration to feature live glassblowing, hands-on activities, music, and food, plus free admission to three downtown museums
Tacoma, Wash. (April 25, 2022) – Artists from across the country and around the world will gather in Tacoma on Sunday, May 22, 2022 for the first annual “TAG Festival: Together… in Art and Glass.” The festival - free to the public - will showcase glass artists, muralists, potters and ceramicists, jewelry artists, painters and sculptors, crafts people of all kinds, live entertainment, food vendors, beer gardens, local musicians Vicci Martinez of "The Voice" fame, Amelia Day, Sacred Janitor, and The Little Lies, and performers from the Asian Pacific Cultural Center. The Puyallup Tribe will open the festivities with a welcome ceremony.
The one-day community-wide event will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Tacoma, featuring more than 100 vendors and encompassing Pacific Avenue from the Tacoma Art Museum to the Washington State History Museum, the Museum of Glass Plaza, and the Bridge of Glass. The event follows the four-day international Glass Art Society Conference to be held at various venues in Tacoma and is sponsored by Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum, and Travel Tacoma – Mt. Rainier Tourism & Sports. Artist demonstrations and live glassblowing at mobile hot shops - including one brought from the Corning Museum of Glass in New York and hosted in the parking lot of LeMay – America's Car Museum - will be featured throughout. Additionally, Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum, and the Washington State History Museum will offer free admission to attendees.
“This is an incredible opportunity for us to bring the community together for something that’s joyful, artistic, and interactive, and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it,” said Travel Tacoma CEO Dean Burke. “After two years of lockdowns and cancelled events, it feels amazing to welcome people to Tacoma for a party that celebrates our vibrant art scene and incredible artists. This is going to be a spectacular event.”
Pacific Avenue will remain open to vehicle traffic and businesses will remain open during the event.
Partners of the event include: Glass Art Society, Tacoma Night Market, Hilltop Artists, Washington State Historical Society, Over Tacoma, the Greater Tacoma Convention Center, Corning Museum of Glass, LeMay – America’s Car Museum, 253 Glassblowing Studios, University of Washington Tacoma, Murano Hotel, Marriott Hotels, Silver Cloud Hotels, the Port of Tacoma, and the City of Tacoma.
To learn more about the TAG Festival, please visit www.TravelTacoma.com/TAG.
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Travel Tacoma – Mt. Rainier Tourism and Sports is the official destination marketing organization for Tacoma and Pierce County, Washington. Accredited by Destinations International. For more information, visit www.traveltacoma.com.
