Events

About the Event

Live music. Comedy. Art. Connection. Experience it all at NextNOW Fest! Register for free now to receive priority access to the full 2025 lineup and schedule. You’ll also receive daily reminders throughout the festival week that will make your experience easy and convenient.

About NextNOW Fest

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s annual NextNOW Fest is a multi-day arts festival featuring performances and other experiences by intriguing, inventive artists from around the country and the University of Maryland campus. A forward-looking gathering place where art transforms our future and connects us all, NextNOW Fest is where creativity and community converge.

A University of Maryland campus tradition, NextNOW Fest is a signature event in University of Maryland’s Arts for All initiative, which leverages the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to address the grand challenges of our time. NextNOW Fest is also a partner of Terps After Dark, an initiative by the UMD Division of Student Affairs that supports late-night,on-campus student programming.The festival is open for all to attend, including the general public.

Funding

NextNOW Fest is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Additional support is provided by Terps After Dark, the University of Maryland’s Arts for All initiative and UMD’s Student Entertainment Events.