Coming up this weekend is the 64th annual Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff in downtown St. Joseph.
Krasl Art Fair Director Jamie Balkin tells us they’ll have 172 artists from all over the U.S selling art in a variety of mediums as well as food trucks and a brand new beer garden on the Krasl Art Center grounds.
“The Beer Garden is new in 2026,” Balkin said. “A feature of the Beer Garden will be a custom cocktail called the Krasl Handcrafted. It was created for our weekend by Watermark Brewing in Stevensville and will be featuring Domaine Berrien wines.”
The label for the Krasl Hand Crafted was created via an art contest won by St. Joseph artist Mari Barros. They’ll also have live music in the beer garden.
Balkin says the Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff is a major attraction to the community each summer.
“Each year the art fair brings around 23,000 people throughout the weekend. A feature this year that we’re really excited to be offering is we will have shuttles running from two locations this year. We’ll have a shuttle running from St. Joseph High School and then the Michigan Works building at 499 West Main and Benton Harbor.”
Balkin says if you want to get to the fair without battling traffic, the shuttle is the way to go. It will be free to get into the fair, but the Krasl does ask for a donation.
“To donate to the art fair, there will be several different ways. We’ll have donation bins at the entrance. We have a QR code that you can scan and donate. And it’s also available to donate right now on our website.”
Balkin says her favorite thing about the art fair is working with the more than 300 volunteers who make the event possible each year.
The Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff will kick off on Friday evening with the annual block party. The Art Fair proper, when visitors can peruse and purchase art in Lake Bluff Park, will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 to 5 on Sunday.
