Meet in the Street 

The 2026 Meet in the Street festival will celebrate its 44th year on May 2, 2026. Coordinated by the Wake Forest Area Chamber, this event will be held from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM in historic downtown Wake Forest. With arts, crafts, business booths, music, and food, more than 100 booths will line the streets of Wake Forest. Historically, attendance at this event ranges from 20,000 to 25,000 people.  Admission is free. New this year is the creation of "villages" throughout downtown to group like events and activities. 

The Wake Forest Guild of Artists is honored to have been selected to host the Wake Forest Guild of Artists' Arts and Artisans Village in 2026. We are working closely with the Chamber to select artists and artisans for our village, and we will manage the village on May 2nd. Our village will be in the larger town parking lot across from Unwine on White. 

Below is the application to apply for acceptance into our village. This is a manual process. You must print the application and fill it out manually and either mail or email a copy with payment and photos. We were very pleased that the Chamber lowered the booth rental to $150 for 2026. 

Of special note, we will be the first village unloaded, and there will be many volunteers to unload and oversee your tents and products while you park your vehicle. With the number of booths and participants in Meet in the Street, each area has a short window that must be met before the next village is unloaded to ensure all villages can be set up by 10:00 AM. Our Arts and Artisans Market will be the first one set up which means you must be there by 6:00 AM. At 6:15, our unloading process will end. If you miss that window, you can only participate by carrying all of your supplies yourself from the designated parking area (TBD). There will not be any exceptions. 

Please review and complete the application here and mail or email it to the Chamber. The appropriate addresses are located on the form below the Wake Forest Guild of Artists logo.