CANDELAFEST! 2026
The First-ish Annual Pagan Chicken Party Celebrating Photography and Community
The UnBound! Gala becomes CANDELAFEST! Join us on Saturday, August 1, 2026 from 6-10pm for The First-ish Annual Pagan Chicken Party & Summer Fundraiser as we prepare for another exciting year of photographic programming.
For the past fourteen years, our summer fundraising party has been centered around our open call exhibition, UnBound!, and has been thusly named. As we celebrate this summer for the first time as a 501c3, we’re expanding the spirit of this gathering beyond a single exhibition to something greater; our intention is to garner substantial financial support for gallery programming and operations for the coming year. We’ll still be adding to the Collection, still giving 1-2 UnBound! artists honorariums, and will still experience the joys of having our summer show up on the walls.
Our summer festivities will continue with equal whimsy and endearing chaos, but will henceforth be tied to traditions of the solar calendar. Lughnasadh, in the Wheel of the Year, occurs every year on August 1 or 2 and honors the first harvest, expresses gratitude for abundance, and prepares us to face the darker half of the year. The traditions of UnBound! have not been dissimilar: the exhibition itself, the funding, and the party have always been a labor of love which mark the end of our programming calendar and prepare us for another year of supporting artists. During the summer season, we are often asking ourselves “what went well,” “what can we improve upon,”and “what can we leave behind?”
So dress in your solar harvest festival best. Eat some back alley fried chicken courtesy of our Tender Boys. Or some not-chicken. Sashay to live music. Chat with a wandering pagan goddess. Get fresh swag. Celebrate photography, community, abundance, and the weird magic that happens when we come together to make and support art.