Chalk Art Festival A Little Different This Year

Yakima's Chalk Art Festival is a lot of fun.  Colorful, creative and cool.  This year, the Coronavirus butts in and forces some some changes but the spirit of the festival lives on in what the Downtown Association of Yakima (DAY) calls a creative and unifying way.

Andrew Holt, DAY Executive Director says, “Even though the purpose of all of our events is to have people congregate in Downtown Yakima – which we obviously cannot do right now --, we feel that we have found a way to have an event that still spotlights our community’s wonderful spirit, its artists, and the downtown community.”

According to a DAY press release, here's how it's going to happen in 2020.

This Year’s Theme: My Favorite Downtown Yakima Place (this could be a building, a park, public art, a memory – anything that is part of Downtown Yakima).

Children 12 and under can pick up their chalk at the Downtown Yakima Farmers Market on the Sundays of September 27th and October 4th. The chalk will be at the information booth at the entrance of the market. They, then, can draw their art at their residence (driveway, sidewalk, patio, etc.). Once completed, they should take a clear photo of their artwork and email the photo to admin@downtownyakima.com or through the DAY Facebook page.

Artists need to register with DAY and they will receive 2 boxes of chalk pastels and one 24’ x 24’ panel with paint to create a background. Once their drawing is finished, they will return it and DAY  with each drawing  photographed and displayed in a DAY Facebook gallery.

The drawings with the most likes will receive 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place accordingly. The drawings will also be displayed on the DAY website, although voting will only occur on the Facebook gallery. DAY will identify what buildings and businesses the drawings are located so the public can view them in person.

Artists must contact DAY to register via email at admin@downtownyakima.com , or Facebook, or by calling 509-571-1328.