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VISTA UNIFIED FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

The 20th annual Vista Unified Festival of the Arts takes center stage in Vista Village on Saturday, October 19. This popular festival celebrates the myriad arts and music opportunities in the school district and serves as a showcase for all the schools participating. 

The diversity of performances and work displayed at the festival includes instrumental and vocal ensembles, dance groups, Ballet Folklorico, choirs, theater performances, visual arts, and much more.

The event will host three stages. One is by the Starbucks at the northern end of Vista Village, one is in the center by the Cenepolis Cinema, and the other is at the south end by Lamp Post Pizza.

Susan Stuber has been involved in the festival since its very inception. Currently serving as the Visual and Performing Arts Resource Teacher for Vista Unified, she describes the festival today: “Every single school in the Vista Unified School District will be represented in at least one of three ways: a visual art display, a performance, or by creating a craft space which serves as an art booth that is free for the community to participate in. There will be three stages for music performances.”

Over 1,000 Students Participating
Illustrating the scale of the festival Stuber anticipates more than one thousand students performing, and says, “It's going be exciting, and we will be packed!” There will be close to 40 groups performing on the three stages throughout the festival.

Among the groups performing are Rancho Buena Vista High School’s Wind Ensemble, Vista Academy’s Children’s Theater, several Ballet Folklorico groups, multiple dance troupes, ukelele ensembles, and many more.

On the visual art side, Stuber says most elementary schools will display artwork representing every student at the schools, while middle and high school art shows will showcase student art and elective classwork.

Celebrating 20 Years of the Festival 


2024 will mark the 20th year of the festival, and Stuber has taken the opportunity to reach out to the many people who started and grew the festival. 

“Anne Fennell (former music teacher at Mission Vista High School) - who I hope can come and be honored - was the initial pioneer,” she says. Stuber recalls how all of the arts teachers in the district would gather during their professional development time and discuss how great it would be to have a performance and exhibition opportunity for the entire district.

“Anne took it and ran with it,” she says. “And, oh my goodness, I don't think she slept for months! It was unreal. She was the brainchild and the one who made it really work.” 

Stuber herself has been involved with the festival for the entirety of its 20 years; from the early years, when she bought her middle school choirs to perform, to when she transitioned to elementary and bought those choirs to perform, until more recently when she took up a leadership role.

“It's a pretty smooth machine at this point,” she explains. “School sites know what to do. They know when to arrive, and how to arrive. Ann did it for maybe ten years and then Rich Cook took it over. When he retired, it kind of fell to his son for a couple of years, and then these last four years it fell to me.”

Stuber said that she hopes to confirm several more people to make special appearances at the event. 

Growth, Change, and Learning 


As the festival has grown, so has the knowledge of its organizers when managing the logistics for a festival of this scale. Stuber says, “During those first years the stages were in different places. We used to have choir risers and we rented a raised stage that would be behind the choirs. 

“But we've switched those two spaces in the last few years. We’ve learned that it's more important to have the band and all of our dance groups in the big flat area in front of the theater. The choir now goes down by Lamppost Pizza and it’s actually worked really well.”

The 20th anniversary of the Vista Unified Festival of the Arts is the perfect opportunity to reflect on all of the hard work Stuber and the teams over the years have put in to make the festival the successful and joyful community event it is today.


Vista Unified Festival of the Arts Schedule