The 5th Annual North Carolina Plein Air Art Festival in New Bern begins Sunday, May 11, 2025 and continues through Sunday, May 18. The eight-day Festival showcases 35 nationally and globally acclaimed plein air artists, including newly juried painters, joining award winners and top performers from the previous year's Festival.

“The term ‘plein air’ is French and means ‘open air’,” said Kippy Hammond, Festival organizer. “Plein air painting can be traced back to Impressionist artists such as Monet, Renoir, and Degas – painting outdoors and capturing fleeting moments of light, color, atmosphere, and the mood of a scene, rather than detailed representations.”