SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — Visitors gathered at the Scranton Iron Furnaces for the 17th annual Arts on Fire Festival, a free, weekendlong event celebrating art, heritage, industry and community.
Hosted by the Anthracite Heritage Museum, the yearly festival features activities, vendors and hands-on experiences such as blacksmithing and metal pouring. Organizers say the event grew out of an effort to bring new energy to the historic site.
“We had this as our historic site for a long time, but some folks who are really into blacksmithing and all that and sculpture, Keystone College, they were like ‘hey we should do something exciting here.’ So, they said, ‘let’s do an iron pour.’ And they used to have a bonfire, they still did that, but they came together and they said ‘want to do this?’ and we said yes and the rest is history,” said Anthracite Heritage Museum educator, Nicole Negron.
Set against the backdrop of the city’s old iron furnaces, the festival aims to honor Scranton’s manufacturing history and immigrant heritage while showcasing Northeastern Pennsylvania arts and culture. Attendees said they are already excited to come back next year.