Moab Arts Festival

The Moab Arts Festival will not take place in 2026. The volunteer committee that organized the event for three decades retired at the close of 2025, and festival organizers announced in early 2026 that a hiatus was necessary while a new committee orients itself, reviews the event’s history, and builds the operational foundation for a sustainable return. The festival’s official statement anticipates a 2027 resumption, with dates and venue to be confirmed through [email protected] and 435-259-2742. If your travel plans brought you to Moab for the Memorial Day weekend on the strength of this event, the town’s arts and outdoor calendar offers ample alternatives.

In place of the festival’s traditional Memorial Day footprint at Swanny City Park, Moab’s most relevant 2026 arts market programming runs through the Arts and Ag Market series: free Friday evening outdoor markets at Swanny City Park on May 8, June 12, July 10, September 11, and October 9, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., featuring local and regional artisans, farm produce, food vendors, and live music. The July 10 date coincides with the Moab Free Concert Series, which adds a dedicated music component to that evening’s market. The Red Rocks Arts Festival, returning in late September, serves as the region’s most comprehensive juried arts event for 2026 and represents the most direct seasonal substitute for the gap left by the traditional festival. Note that dogs are not permitted at Swanny City Park during any market events.

What Moab Offers Around Memorial Day Without the Festival

Arches National Park, the defining visual symbol of the Colorado Plateau, is five miles north of Moab on US-191. Entry now requires an advance timed-entry permit for most spring visitors, available through recreation.gov well before the Memorial Day weekend. Canyonlands National Park’s Island in the Sky district, 32 miles northwest, provides equally dramatic canyon country geology with generally lighter visitation and no timed-entry requirement through most of the spring season. The Colorado River Scenic Byway along Highway 128 northeast of Moab follows the river through the Fisher Towers and Hittle Bottom sections, passing red sandstone towers that rise from the river corridor in shapes that geologically informed visitors find as riveting as any constructed architecture.

Good to Know
Memorial Day weekend in Moab is among the most intensely booked travel windows of the year. If you are visiting for the long weekend, secure Arches National Park timed-entry permits as early as the 60-day booking window allows. Accommodation availability across Moab’s rental inventory narrows sharply by March for Memorial Day; plan lodging well in advance of any spring visit.

The Colorado River and Moab’s Water Connection

The Colorado River through the Moab corridor offers half-day and full-day flatwater float trips that operate independently of any festival calendar. Several outfitters on Highway 128 and downtown Moab run guided kayak and canoe trips through the Fisher Towers section, the most scenically distinctive flatwater stretch in the region. Look on Lake.com for vacation rentals in the Moab and Colorado River corridor area that position you within easy reach of the river, both national parks, and the downtown arts scene.

Where to Stay

Moab’s lodging ranges from downtown boutique hotels along Main Street to vacation rentals in the residential corridors north and south of town with red rock canyon views. For Memorial Day weekend, plan accommodations as early as February to secure preferred properties. Look on Lake.com for rentals in the Moab area suited to a Colorado Plateau spring visit.