More than 100,000 people attended Artscape last weekend, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s office announced Wednesday — validating planners’ decision to move the city’s marquee arts celebration to a different location and season.

Scott described Artscape in a news release as “phenomenal” and added:

“For the first time, we brought the festival to the heart of our Downtown Baltimore … I’m so proud of Artscape and the positive response we’ve heard from artists and attendees alike. We will make improvements, so stay tuned for next year!”

The attendance figures for Saturday and Sunday, which took place under sunny skies and with temperatures in the 60s and 70s, more than doubled the size of crowds at the previous two festivals. However, the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts said on Sunday afternoon that Saturday had seen 91,000 attendees.

The mayor’s office did not respond immediately to request for clarification on the specific number of attendees for both days.

Visitors thronged the new Scout Affordable Art Fair, where many vendors reported selling out their work, according to the release, and to concerts featuring headliners Robin Thicke and Fantasia Barrino.

This weekend’s event was by far the most successful Artscape in this decade. The coronavirus pandemic caused Artscape to be called off in its entirety in 2020, 2021 and 2022, while the 2023 and 2024 festivals were marred by terrible weather, including Tropical Storm Ophelia, resulting in the cancellation of key events for safety reasons.

For much of its 40-plus hear history, the festival took place in the Mount Vernon and Station North neighborhoods during the scorching temperatures of mid-July. In at attempt to beat the heat, Artscape was rescheduled to September in 2023, where it ran into conflicts with arts organizations and colleges at the beginning of their performing seasons and school year.

In early 2024, the festival jumped to early August, only to be promptly rained out.

Organizers gave up scheduling Artscape in the summer or fall and instead opted for late spring. Because Scott wanted Artscape to be part of his $6.9 million Downtown Rise economic development initiative, the festival moved in 2025 from its former location in Mount Vernon/Station North to an underutilized area beneath the Jones Falls Expressway overpasses.

“To see this embraced and celebrated at this scale is extraordinary,” said Tonya Miller Hall, the mayor’s senior adviser for arts & culture, said in the release. “Artscape 2025 was a defining moment for Baltimore’s cultural renaissance.”

Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge wrote in an email to The Baltimore Sun that more than 300 officers and commanders were deployed throughout the city over the weekend to ensure safety not just at Artscape but at such other events as Sowebo and the Teen Takeover in Druid Hill Park.

“There were no incidents of concern reported at any of the special events,” she said.

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