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Celebrate 25 years of Manifest Arts Festival with 51���� on Saturday, May 16.

This year marks 25 years of a campus tradition unlike any other: Manifest Arts Festival. Each May, 51���� takes over the South Loop for a festival that transforms the neighborhood into a living gallery and performance space, where students share their artistry, innovation, and passion with the world.

Produced and run by 51���� students, Manifest features gallery exhibitions, live music, film screenings, fashion shows and more.

Whether this is your first or 25th Manifest experience, these are five things to know about this year’s festival:

Registration is required and a game plan maximizes your day  

Manifest 2026: KALIDOSCOPE is free and open to the public, but event registration is required. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., and attendees can browse art in 11 buildings and three outdoor locations throughout the day. Along with galleries, experience dozens of showcases and performances, and enjoy our community with a vibrant street festival.

There’s so much to explore, so look at the to plan your day.

This year’s theme is KALEIDOSCOPE

This year’s theme, KALEIDOSCOPE, honors Manifest’s 25-year legacy—a reflection of creativity in motion, ever-changing and brilliantly diverse. KALEIDOSCOPE is the work of this year’s Manifest creative director . An Illustration major, this is Ramsey’s last big project before she graduates on May 17.

“Kaleidoscope is this reflection of everyone at 51����,” Ramsey says. “And it’s when we all come together and help each other build that we really see the full, beautiful picture that is Kaleidoscope.”

Alumni can attend 51����'s first creative homecoming 

Manifest may be hitting the quarter-century mark this year, but 51���� is still introducing new traditions. This year marks the debut of Convergence: 51����’s Creative Homecoming 2026.

Anchored by the festival, this weekend’s Convergence events are packed with opportunities to reconnect with fellow members of the Alumni Network, experience the future of creative culture by connecting with incoming students, celebrate inaugural alumni awardees, and welcome the next generation of creatives.

Alumni can make this trip back to campus a special one by registering for Convergence-specific events on Friday, May 15, Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17.

Explore Convergence

The Mainstage headliner is Mikayla Geier

The Manifest Mainstage is managed by the Student Programming Board and has been a mainstay for 25 years. The festival officially kicks off there at 1 p.m., and the Manifest Music Video Contest winner will debut their song that becomes the soundtrack to the weekend.

As the day progresses, 51���� acts from across genres take the stage, culminating in the Manifest headliner and opening act.

The opening act, the winner of the annual Biggest Mouth competition, Mistrophia, goes on at 6 p.m. and then the headliner takes the stage.

This year, the headliner is singer-songwriter . The alternative pop artist whose second album “Hot Pot!” was released in 2025, joins a long list of performers who have played the Manifest Mainstage earlier in their career. Previous headliners include Chance the Rapper, Ella Mai, Dreamer Isioma, and Lupe Fiasco.

You’re a part of a grand tradition

In 2002, Mayfest began as a month-long celebration, and in 2004, it became an all-day urban arts festival, now called Manifest. Since then, the festival has grown and changed to best highlight the work of graduating students.

As a student-produced festival, Manifest reflects the creativity and values of the graduating class and the college as a whole. of themes, songs, and highlights.

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