Is Iowa Home to the Best Art Festival in America?

So many things qualify as 'art' these days that it's hard to define what it actually means anymore.

But one thing is certain, people love it in all shapes and forms, especially at the hundreds of art festivals that pop up each year from coast to coast.

So where is America's Best Art Festival?

USA Today's 10 Best is asking you to pick, and there's an Iowa event among the 20 finalists. 

The Des Moines Arts Festival is part art fair, artists gallery, concert venue, and film festival, hosting nearly 200 of the nation's top artists showing their work.

The event is no stranger to awards, winning the Grand Pinnacle Award from the International Festivals and Events Association 14 times over the years.

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The festival dates back to the 1950s when it was known as the All Iowa Art Fair and then the Iowa Artists Exhibition, Iowa Artists Annual Show, Iowa Art Show, and Art in the Park. In 1998 it became the Des Moines Arts Festival.

It attracts more than 200,000 each year and generates an estimated $8 million to the local economy.

Voting ends Monday (March 18) at 11:00 AM CT.

This year's festival is June 28-30 at Western Gateway Park in downtown Des Moines.

OTHER FINALISTS

• 57th Street Art Fair - Chicago
• Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, The Original - Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Art Fair on the Square - Madison, Wisconsin
• Art in the High Desert - Bend, Oregon
• Artisphere - Greeneville, South Carolina
• Artscape - Baltimore
• Black & Brown Comix Arts Festival - San Francisco
• Cherry Creek Arts Festival - Denver
• Dogwood Arts Festival - Knoxville, Tennessee
• Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival - Fort Worth, Texas
• Mission Fed ArtWalk - San Diego
• Park City Kimball Arts Festival - Park City, Utah
• Plaza Art Fair - Kansas City
• Plaza Walls Mural Expo - Oklahoma City
• Santa Fe International Folk Art Market - Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Sawdust Art & Craft Summer Festival - Laguna Beach, California
• St. Petersburg Fine Art Festival - St. Petersburg, Florida
• Three Rivers Arts Festival - Pittsburgh
• Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival - Winter Park, Florida

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