The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts is celebrated with a mission to celebrate the arts with presentations of varied, visual of high-quality and performing arts through the collaborative effort of The Pennsylvania State University and the community. It was started in 1967 as nine day festival by Governor Raymond Shafer and sponsored by State College Chamber of Commerce and Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture. Currently the festival is five day long and is held every year in early July from Wednesday to Sunday in State College, Pennsylvania and in the University Park campus of Penn State.

The highlights of the festival are as follows:
1. Children and Youth Day
2. Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition
3. Musical performance
4. Gallery exhibition
5. Sand sculpture
6. Dance