What to Know
- The Pasadena Chalk Festival is not an in-person event in 2020; it's happening virtually, via the festival's Instagram and Facebook pages
- Anyone can participate from their own home or neighborhood
- June 18-21, 2020
Watching an artist, a creator who is staying close to the ground, fashion a fantastical, step-inside, trompe l'oeil masterpiece out of chalk, sidewalk, and oodles of imagination?
That's become a Father's Day Weekend must-do for many locals, the people who regularly pop by Pasadena for one of the largest chalk festivals in the world.
The free and famous festival, which begins on the Saturday of the holiday weekend, and concludes on Father's Day afternoon, is turning 28 in 2020.
And while it will not take place at Paseo Colorado, its longtime home, the Pasadena Chalk Festival will keep its chalk lined up, its pictures beautiful, and the fans engaged as it takes goes fully online.
How will this work?
Nope, the hundreds of artists who participate each year will not be gathering just off Colorado Boulevard to create their look-down artworks. Repeat, the in-person fest is not going on this year.
Rather, they'll be chalking-up a sidewalk or driveway or piece of concrete near or at their own home.
This means you'll want to keep an eye on the Pasadena Chalk Festival's Instagram and Facebook pages, to watch how these seemingly dimensional delights come together, stroke by line by colorful flourish.
An intriguing twist for this offbeat experience?
Anyone can join in, if you've longed to try your own hand at making a stunning square. You'll want the hashtags to post your creative efforts, and to learn more how to participate, so check out the event page here.
An awesome detail?
The official photographer of the event will make a few house calls during the weekend, so you might make his stop-by list.
Also awesome? BLICK Art Materials in Pasadena is offering a discount right now on supplies; read more about how to save money on your chalk.
The festival is beginning earlier than usual, on the Thursday ahead of Father's Day, giving artists more time to put together something funky or gorgeous or a little bit of both, and more time for fans of the fest to look online and see how the works are proceeding.
Have you and your dad visited this vibrant scene in years gone by?
You don't have to miss it this year. Rather, enjoy it virtually, and get to watch the artists on their home turf as they create color on concrete and whole worlds beneath their feet.
As amazing, though? You can make your own masterpiece, if you're game, and start your own Father's Day Weekend tradition.
