ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- The Orange Beach Festival of Art is scheduled for March 10-11 and it will be on the grounds of the Waterfront Park and the Orange Beach Art Center at 26389 Canal Road.

Festival hours on Saturday and Sunday, March 10-11, are from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each day.

The Orange Beach Festival of Art encompasses many different art genres. With a strong focus on fine visual arts, the Festival hosts approximately 100 of the Southeast’s finest artists.

These artists are juried from a large pool of applicants and provide a wonderful mixture of paintings, pottery, jewelry, glass, wood, textile, sculpture and other art forms.

On Friday night, March 9, to inaugurate the Festival, we will have Dinner and Jazz by the Bay. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans will be performing at a catered dinner featuring local cuisine.

The dinner and show will be on the grounds of Waterfront Park which is located on Wolf Bay. Tickets for this event are $50 per person and can be purchased at the Coast Arts Center at Orange Beach or by calling 251-981-2787 or 251-223-3970.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Rick Bragg will be among the 15 writers and novelists who will be a part of the Author’s Row in the literary arts division of the Festival. Bragg will sign his books beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 10. All authors will have book signings as they greet Festival attendees.

The Songwriters and Musicians stage performers will feature top musicians from across the Southeast who will be entertaining those attending the Festival both Saturday and Sunday, March 10-11.

One of the Festival’s top attractions is the Performing Arts Stage. The Anansema Cultural Group will be traveling from their home town of Accra in Ghana to perform original tribal dance and to demonstrate the art of drum making and carving.

The 2012 line up will also include a performance of the jazz musical “Aristocats” by the ASAP Children’s Theatre Troupe.

The Orange Beach Festival of Art is a family-oriented event which features a “Kid’s Art Alley.” Children will have the opportunity to create clay art, marionette puppets, shell art, and they can participate in a live demonstration tent.

The Festival is pleased to welcome the Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithery from Birmingham. They will be pouring molten metal for adults and children to create metal art.

The Hot Shop, an “on site” glass making facility, will have local and guest glassmakers creating their glass art for live audiences. The guest glass artist for this year’s Festival is Carlyn Ray, an internationally known creator of beautiful glass art. This facility is open year round for visitors and is one of the most popular stops at the Festival.

Acknowledging the fact that visitors come to Orange Beach primarily for the beach and seafood, the Orange Beach Festival of Art will feature local restaurants as a part of the culinary arts division of the event. Those attending can expect to get fresh shrimp, oysters, fish and dishes from some of the favorite spots that have made Orange Beach a top tourist attraction.

Buses will be shuttling those attending to and from the Festival site. Shuttle sites will be located at The Wharf, Publix in Orange Beach and the State Park Pavilion at Gulf Shores. A $1 fee will be charged both ways and there is a $1 fee to enter the Festival. Children under 12 will be admitted free of charge.

The Orange Beach Festival of Art is a program of the OBFOA Steering Committee, the Friends of the Arts and is presented in part by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

For information, visit www.obfoa.com or contact the Orange Beach Arts Center at 251-981-2787 or 251-223-3970.