Displays of paintings, blown glass, jewelry and other items will be set up under old oak trees at the 57th annual Mandarin Art Festival. | Mandarin Art Festival
Published on April 17, 2025 at 10:14 am
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
Blown glass will glow in the sunshine of Easter weekend next to sculptures, carved wood, sparkling jewelry and more as the 57th annual Mandarin Art Festival showcases the works of artists and craftspeople from around the country.
Their works, along with a children’s art show, bake sale and food court, will be part of Jacksonville’s oldest art festival on the oak-shaded grounds of the 153-year-old Mandarin Community Club.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
This is a juried art show, so festival chairwoman Susie Scott said those who exhibit usually showcase their best.
“We stick with our values and they are 130 juried artists, so they have to meet the criteria,” she said. “This year we have over 50 new artists exhibiting with us — that’s very exciting — award winning artists who are local and from across the nation.”
Artist Christine Booras is coming back to the festival with precisely woven miniature bonsai trees for display and sale, their trunks made with woven polished wire. She likes to bring her work to Mandarin to share it.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
“It’s different — you don’t see it very often — and the Mandarin Art Festival was actually the first one I showed my work at, and people loved it,” she said.
She loves that it’s an outdoor show. “That’s what attracted me because I want to spend my time outside,” she said. “The trees want to spend their time outside because these trees are my muse.”
The community club’s church-like structure was originally built in 1872 with funds raised by Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin who lived across Mandarin Road. Founded to help former slaves, it became the Mandarin School.
The building was gifted to the community club in 1936. In 1968, club members created the art festival.
Younger artistic talent is judged in the Children’s Art Show, displayed inside the community club near the annual bake sale.
Proceeds from the show benefit the Community Club’s preservation, education and beautification programs in the Mandarin community.
“It is the largest event in Mandarin and has become an Easter tradition — multi-generational,” Scott said. “It’s important to the Mandarin Community Club because it is our primary fundraiser and our signature event.”
The show also has a Green Market in the Billard Park area behind the festival, with 16 vendors. And there are more food vendors, with shaded seating next door at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Pavillion.
Organizers expect 6,000 to 10,000 people at the event Saturday and Sunday, with sunny weather and highs in the mid-80s expected. Just do not look for parking on the tight two-lane roads adjacent to the festival site, Scott warns. Take advantage of the satellite parking .
“It is in a residential area, so they have to park off-site. You cannot park at the festival,” she said. “… There are free shuttles running that will bring you to the gates of the festival.”
If you go
- Location: Mandarin Community Club, 12447 Mandarin Road.
- Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
- Admission: $2 per person.
- Parking: Free off-site parking at Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, 12236 Mandarin Road; Alberts Field, 12073 Brady Road; and the Mandarin Masonic Lodge, 2914 Loretto Road. A free shuttle runs to and from the show during festival hours.
