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SPARK Photo Festival Update

Update October 14, 2020: The Juried Exhibit, Motion, winning images have been announced! View the video announcement by Board Member, Teresa Kaszuba, and see the winning images on our Social Media page: Click Here

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We at the SPARK Photo Festival hope you all continue to keep well and we thank you for your patience on Festival news.

The SPARK Photo Festival Board of Directors has been monitoring the evolution of the pandemic and the impact on our community constantly and have carefully weighed all of the options for our 2020 Festival. Based on government and public health forecasting we expect continued recommendations for people to minimize exposure to groups and indoor spaces to reduce the spread of the virus and there is a strong expectation of a second wave which would cause restrictions to be re-implemented, making it challenging for our Festival to proceed as planned this fall.

With all of this in consideration, we have determined it is most prudent to postpone the SPARK Photo Festival to April 2021. Along with the exhibitors scheduled for 2020, we will open up to new registrations in November for Open Call exhibits and launch a new Themed Juried Exhibit for submissions from photographers from across Ontario.

We sincerely appreciate the continued support of SPARK Photo Festival by our exhibitors and venues, generous sponsors, Patrons and donors and volunteers. We, along with the community, will eagerly look forward to a bigger and better Festival in 2021.

In the interim, we will continue our online Virtual Photo Exhibits on our Exhibits page, including our 2020 Motion Juried Exhibit. and social media programming to promote SPARK photographers, as well as some exciting plans for new programming this fall and winter including more virtual exhibits and a pop-up art sale.

Please reach out with any questions you may have. We truly appreciate your patience during this challenging time, and we wish you all well.

Sincerely,
Jennifer MacKenzie, Festival Director, and the SPARK Board of Directors

The SPARK Photo Festival is a celebration of photography, and the artists, dreamers, innovators, storytellers, professionals and enthusiasts behind the camera lens. Every year, the month of April marks the arrival of numerous photographic exhibits and artists, in locations throughout the Northumberland, Peterborough, and the Kawartha Lakes regions. Technical workshops, lectures, talks, films, and other related photographic events and activities take place year-round as well as during the festival.

Pocket Guide 2020

2020 SPARK Catalogue

Open Call & Primary Exhibits

The backbone of the SPARK festival can be attributed to the depth and variety of the Open Call Exhibits by regional photographers working at every skill level - student, enthusiast, fine art, and professional. The festival features more than 35 open call exhibit venues. A list of the registration categories for open call exhibits can be found below.

SPARK organized exhibits are called primary exhibits and these exhibits include the highly competitive Juried Exhibit contest, which, based on a theme, features 25 of the best submissions from across the Province of Ontario as selected by a panel of expert judges.

For 2020, expect a few surprises as SPARK continues to evolve as a festival.

It is SPARK's inclusiveness and our celebration of the community of photographers that sets SPARK apart as a festival. That you will find photography in places where you least expect to, part of SPARK's charm.

Open Call Exhibit Categories

  • Individual
  • Small Group
  • Group
  • Community Organization
  • Student Individual
  • Student Group
  • Featured (Individual, Small Group or Group)

View the 2020 Exhibits

Juried Exhibit

The theme of the 2020 Juried Exhibit was Motion.

The 2021 Juried Exhibit Submissions open on November 1, 2020. The theme will be announced then.

2020 Motion Best in Show: Leap Year by Patricia M. Calder

 

 

Open Call Registration

Open Call Registration for 2020 is closed.

Did you miss out on registering this year? Sign up for our newsletter to make sure you get in on SPARK 2021.

For registration assistance/questions please email info@sparkphotofestival.org

Open Call Registration for 2021 will open on November 1, 2020.

Juried Submissions

Juried Submission for 2020 is closed.

Juried Submission for 2020 is closed.
Check back on November 1, 2020 for the 2021 Submissions and Theme Announcement.

Mobile-Friendly Pocket Guide

New for 2020: We'll have a mobile-friendly, downloadable Pocket Guide so you can take the SPARK Photo Festival 2020 with you on-the-go. Check this page at the end of March to download your guide.