Photo Credit: Lalea Raymond 2025

(NEWARK, NJ) -- In the heart of a city defined by reinvention and artistic energy, the Newark Arts Festival returns this week as a powerful declaration: JOY Lives Here. This year's edition (October 8-12, 2025) is not just a series of events, it is a cultural movement led by Newark Arts, celebrating creative possibility and the power of sustained collaboration.

From the very first announcement of this year’s theme, JOY, the festival has struck a chord. Praised as an essential shift in tone for Newark’s arts identity, it positions joy not merely as a feeling but as an act: one rooted in community, resistance, and collective renewal. Under this banner, the festival becomes a conduit for artists, institutions, and the public to co-author a more spirited urban narrative.

At the helm of this transformation, Newark Arts is proving itself as more than a curator of events. It is becoming an ecosystem-builder, expanding its reach through ambitious partnerships with global and local institutions alike. This year’s festival is powered by alliances with NJEDA, Audible, Prudential, The City of Newark, Johnnie Walker, and luxury retailer Reisfields NYC; and rooted deeply in collaborations with Newark institutions such as NJPAC, The Newark Museum of Art, Rutgers - Newark, and Newark Public Schools. These relationships reflect strategic alignment, mutual vision, and shared investment in Newark’s cultural future.

A hallmark of this year’s expansion is the freshly announced synergy between Newark Arts and Express Newark, which will formally launch on October 9 through the opening of Pure Joy, a signature festival exhibition at Paul Robeson Galleries. Serving as both a symbolic and literal anchor the partnership will welcome new audiences, activate urban infrastructure, and embed festival programming across the city.

But JOY is meant to be lived, not just seen. That’s why Newark Arts continues to deepen its collaboration with Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, Arts Ed Newark and Unified Vailsburg Services Organization, ensuring robust family-friendly programming through NAF Kids that is designed to elevate intergenerational connection and exploration.

Uplifting local voices remains central to the festival experience. The Halsey Art Block Party, for example, will spotlight Next Up Newark, giving the city’s emerging performing artists a high-profile stage. And while Art Night Out will unfold as the most expansive art crawl in Newark’s history, weaving together galleries, performances, and pop-up activations across blocks, the festival also offers more intimate moments: Open Doors Studio Tours will invite curious audiences into creative sanctuaries, and Newark Grounds Night Fest will transform beloved cultural gathering places into vibrant evening ecosystems.

Anchoring the festival’s crescendo: An Evening With Avery Wilson promises a stirring performance; Rhythm as Resistance at NJPAC brings music and movement into dialogue with social purpose. Across all programming, Newark Arts will bring attention and care to the artists, organizers, and communities whose voices enrich the city every day.

Festival Highlights at a Glance 

* The Gold Ball - The official opening ceremony and gala celebration of art, patronage, and vision 

* Pure JOY at Express Newark - the kick-off exhibition for the Newark Arts + Express Newark partnership 

* Art Night Out - Newark’s biggest-ever art crawl 

* Halsey Art Block Party + Next Up Newark talent showcase 

* An Evening With Avery Wilson - Signature performance event 

* NAF Kids & Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey - immersive, family-centered programming 

* Newark Grounds Night Fest - arts, nightlife & social activation 

* Open Doors Studio Tours - behind-the-scenes access to creative studios 

* Rhythm as Resistance at NJPAC - music, movement, and cultural reflection 

Head to www.newarkartsfestival.com for the full schedule of over 25 free and ticketed events.

Since 2001, Newark Arts has been driving cultural transformation and living up to their core pilar of “powering the arts to transform lives.” Through initiatives like ArtStart microgrants, public art commissioning, and strategic cultural planning, Newark Arts has deep roots in the city’s ecosystem. As Newark Arts Festival becomes more ambitious each year, it does so propelled by relationships, intentional branding, and unwavering faith in the creative future of Newark.

Under JOY Lives Here, the festival not only presents art, it insists on a renovated civic imagination. It invites audiences to see Newark differently: as a center of possibility, warmth, and collective expression. Newark Arts is doing more than programming, it is leading a movement, weaving together artists, institutions, and communities to usher in a season of remembrance, energy, and joy.