Wiscasset Art Walk — a summertime celebration of art, music, performance and community, entering its ninth year — returns this month in full force with the participation of village galleries, shops, and restaurants.

The village becomes a festival with sidewalk activities, community art projects, and special features.

Art Walks are held from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursdays, June 24, July 29, Aug. 26 and Sept. 30. Participant sites are marked with colorful streamers, touring maps are available throughout the village, and there’s plenty of free parking.

Those ubiquitous orange barrels of 2019, indicators of the multi-year Maine Department of Transportation construction project, are gone. As are restrictions on being together outdoors.

Instead, the new, extra-wide sidewalks in Wiscasset Village will host performances by Downeast Brass Quintet and Dancemaineia’s hip hop dancers. Hands-on art projects will invite visitors to dip into color, and a pop-up sidewalk bistro will welcome visitors carrying their “picnics-to-go” from village restaurants.

Any state-mandated COVID-19 precautions will be in effect as well as safety precautions requested by individual shops and galleries, so attendees are asked to bring a mask.

Lead sponsors for Wiscasset Art Walk 2021 are Donna and Frank Barnako. Major sponsors are Ames True Value, Big Barn Coffee, Carriage House Gardens, Cod Cove Inn, Fogg Art Restoration, J. Edward Knight Insurance, Peter Eaton Antiques, Red’s Eats, Sarah’s Café, and Tim Dunham Realty.

Wiscasset Art Walk is a program of Wiscasset Creative Alliance.

For more information, visit wiscassetartwalk.org or email wiscassetartwalk@verizon.net.