The Gloucester Arts Festival makes its return this year after having been canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s Plein Air Festival will feature 20 artists from across the country who will paint outdoor scenes in Gloucester.

Chairman for this year’s festival Mollie Stewart had to make the decision last year whether or not to hold this year’s festival. She figured by June 2021, Gloucester could have an outdoor festival since the community is small. Still, this was a risk due to the amount of time, work and planning that goes into each festival.

“It takes a tremendous amount of preparation,” said Stewart.

She decided to take the festival to the next level by planning each event outdoors to keep the festival COVID safe.

This year’s festival kicked-off on June 3 with the Sculpture Unveiling and Talk by Artist Jay Lageman. Attendees walked along Main Street as each sculpture was unveiled and learned the story and inspiration behind each one.

The popu...