31st Annual Venetian Festival Arts and Crafts Fair: Hours, Parking, and What to Expect

Quick answer: The 31st annual Venetian Festival Arts and Crafts Fair runs Saturday, August 22 from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday, August 23 from 10 AM to 4 PM in Library Park on the downtown Lake Geneva lakefront. Admission is free both days. Expect roughly 100 artists and crafters from around the country.

It’s the one part of Venetian Festival that runs entirely in daylight, costs nothing, and doesn’t involve a carnival ride.

Two days, one park, and a lake behind the booths.

The 31st Annual Arts and Crafts Fair at a Glance

The Lake Geneva Jaycees Arts and Crafts Fair is held annually in Library Park, just west of downtown Lake Geneva along the Geneva Lake shoreline, as part of the Venetian Festival. In 2026 it runs Saturday, August 22 from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday, August 23 from 10 AM to 4 PM. Admission is free. The 2026 edition is the 31st annual.

The fair sits inside the larger Venetian Festival, which runs Wednesday, August 19 through Sunday, August 23 in its 64th year.

Library Park

Library Park is the middle of the 3 festival parks, sitting between Flat Iron Park and the Riviera on the north shore of the lake.

That means the booths are strung out under mature trees with open water behind them. Most craft fairs put you in a fairground, a parking lot, or a high school gym. This one puts you on a lakefront lawn with the Shore Path running along the edge of it.

The practical version: you can walk the entire fair, then step 20 feet and be on the Geneva Lake Shore Path. A lot of people do exactly that, browse for an hour, then walk west along the water until they’ve earned lunch.

How Many Vendors, and What They Actually Sell

The Jaycees put the count somewhere between 90 and 110. Their craft fair page says “over 90+ artists and craftspeople” in one line and “100+ exhibitors” a few lines down. The festival schedule says 110 on both days. Call it about 100 and you’ll be close.

They come from around the country, and the fair is juried enough that you’re not walking past 8 identical booths of imported goods.

What tends to show up: woodworking, jewelry, fiber and textiles, pottery and ceramics, painting and photography, metalwork, soaps and candles, and lake-specific art that only makes sense within 10 miles of here. That last category is the reason locals still walk it after 31 years.

Best for: Anyone who wants to spend a couple hours outdoors and come home with something made by the person who sold it to you One catch: Cash still moves faster than a card reader on a crowded Saturday, and cell service in the park gets thin when 10,000 people are downtown

When to Go if You Want to Shop

Saturday morning, right at 10 AM. That’s the whole answer.

By Saturday afternoon the aisles are shoulder to shoulder, and browsing turns into shuffling. The carnival opens at noon on Saturday, the Baggo tournament starts at 11:30, and Touch a Truck runs 12 to 4, so the entire downtown fills between 11 and 1.

Sunday is the calmer day and it closes an hour earlier, at 4 PM. If you’re coming Sunday, come by 1 PM. Vendors start breaking down as 4 o’clock approaches, and the park has to clear before the lakefront turns over to the evening: the water ski show at 6, then the lighted boat parade and fireworks after dark.

Sunday also has the Venetian Festival Car Show from 11 AM to 3 PM, which is a block away and free to walk. Those 2 things pair well and take up the same afternoon.

Eating at the Fair

The Cub Scouts run the brat stand in the park, and it’s usually the cheapest lunch on the festival grounds. Buying from it is also the single easiest thing you can do for a local pack all year.

Past that, downtown is 2 blocks east and it will be busy. Our coffee shop guide covers what’s open before the fair does at 10, and the restaurant guide covers sit-down options. Book ahead for festival weekend.

Parking for the Craft Fair

Downtown Lake Geneva is pay-by-plate, enforced 9 AM to 7 PM daily. Per the City of Lake Geneva fee schedule, the rate on a Saturday or Sunday is $4 per hour, with a 5-hour cap on most stalls.

Skip it. Two city lots are free:

• Lot D, Sage Street, behind the Geneva Lake Museum. About 0.3 miles from Library Park.
• Lot E, Dunn Field, near the skate park. About 0.4 miles.

Lot I next to Seminary Park allows 10-hour stays instead of 5, which matters if you’re making a day of it. The Jaycees also keep an official parking page for festival week.

Arrive before 10 on Saturday and the free lots are still open. Arrive at noon and you’re circling.

Kim and Joel’s take: Library Park is 3 blocks from some of the most-watched real estate in Walworth County, and craft fair weekend is when people first notice it. Standing on that lawn with the water behind you is how a lot of second-home searches start. Search homes around Geneva Lake and the Southern Lakes

Building a Day Around the Fair

Saturday and Sunday work differently, so pick one.

Saturday: fair at 10, brat stand around noon, Touch a Truck with kids from 12 to 4, then the free Terry Byrne Band set in the pavilion from 3 to 6. Every band playing this week is in our live music rundown.

Sunday: car show at 11, fair until 4, Wonder Lake Ski Team at 6 in front of Riviera Beach, lighted boat parade at dusk, fireworks right after. That’s the full character of the festival in one afternoon, and the only thing you pay for is parking.

A lake cruise Saturday morning before the fair opens is the underrated version. Everything else running this week is in our August events roundup and the free things to do guide.

The Other Lakefront Craft Fair, 6 Miles West

Library Park is not the only park on this lake that fills with booths.

The Williams Bay Lions run a craft fair alongside their Pancake Day at Edgewater Park, on the water in Williams Bay, roughly 6 miles west. In 2026 it ran Saturday, July 4, from 7 AM to 12:30 PM. Pancakes, sausage, and coffee were $10 with free refills, cash only, and the craft fair was a new addition that year.

Same idea, different scale. Venetian is 100 booths and a carnival. The Bay version is a village park, a breakfast line, and a couple dozen tables, and it’s over by lunch.

The Lions are also actively looking for craft vendors, which is the part worth knowing if you make something. More on that below.

Edgewater Park stays busy through the fall too. The Lions close their season there with the Nick Caselli Rocking Car Show on Saturday, October 10, 10 AM to 2 PM, and over in Elkhorn, Oktoberfest fills Veterans Park with craft and commercial vendors on Saturday, October 17.

Selling at a Craft Fair Around Geneva Lake

Applications for the 2026 Venetian fair are closed. The Jaycees marked the vendor page shut for this year, and the booths are spoken for.

For Venetian 2027, watch the official craft fair page starting in late winter. Applications have historically opened months ahead, and the fair fills. The Jaycees have not published a 2027 date or deadline, so anything claiming otherwise is a guess.

If you don’t want to wait a full year, the Williams Bay Lions are taking booth inquiries for their Pancake Day craft fair through the contact form on their own site. They added the craft fair recently and said plainly that they’d like more vendors, which is a rarer thing to find than it sounds. A newer fair that wants you beats an established one with a waitlist, at least for a first season.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Venetian Festival Craft Fair

After the Fair, People Start Looking at Listings

It happens every August. Kim and Joel Reyenga, eXp Realty, work Lake Geneva, Williams Bay, Fontana, Geneva National, Delavan, Elkhorn, and the lakes around Geneva Lake.

Luxury. Lake. Golf. Town and Country.

Search homes around Lake Geneva and the Southern Lakes, or call or text (262) 325-9867. Ask us what’s available within a few blocks of Library Park, and what it costs to be that close to the water.

More of what’s running this week is in the Lake Geneva events calendar and the weekly What’s Happening at The Lake roundup.