Denver Chalk Art Festival 2019

The Denver Chalk Art Festival is an award-winning event that transforms historical Larimer Square into a colorful street museum. Over three days, over 200 professional, amateur, and student artists create chalk drawings on the pavement. The festival attracts 175,000 attendees who enjoy food and live music while watching chalk pieces come to life. The event is produced by the Lower Downtown Denver Arts Association (dba Larimer Arts Association), a nonprofit organization established in 1996 dedicated to promoting arts awareness and education in metro Denver.

The festival runs May 31 through June 2, 2019: Friday 5pm-10pm, Saturday 10am-10pm, and Sunday 10am-7pm, with an awards ceremony at 5pm on Sunday. The festival has two levels: Master level for artists age 18 and up, and Youth Challenge for high school aged students. All squares are 8'x8'. Limited 8'x12' vertical spaces are reserved for a 3-D challenge. Artists can also apply for mural teams to create 8'x17' horizontal images (requiring 3-4 artists). Artists must be at least 18 years old and are required to work on their drawings both Saturday and Sunday.

Applications require a sketch and brief description of the proposed chalk drawing, one image of the artwork to be created, and three images of past artwork in any medium. Artwork must be appropriate for public viewing with no words, symbols, or logos intended as advertising. Only non-oil-based soft chalk and pastels in solid form are permitted. Artists reproducing another living artist's work must obtain written permission. The festival provides one set of 24 soft pastels, water, breakfast, and lunch both days. Artists are not paid and there is no reimbursement for travel or lodging. Jury results will be announced by early April 2019. Deadline to enter is March 18, 2019.