This year’s Pasadena Chalk Festival saw about 460 artists transform Colorado Boulevard into a colorful cacophony with more than 200 murals chalked and painted on the ground this weekend.

The festival was free to the public on a hot Father’s Day weekend with artists from all walks of life drawing anything from whimsical illustrations, memorial portraits, political statements, Altadena fire memorials, cartoon fan art and masterpieces as onlookers watched and talked to the artists.

In the middle of the festival was a silent auction for mini-canvases of fan-favorite chalk art that started at $35 for attendees to take home. The funds raised through the auction and merchandise are used to support art education programs for underserved youth through the Light Bringer Project, one of the producers of the Pasadena Chalk Festival.

Tom Coston, board chair of the Light Bringer Project, said the Pasadena Chalk Festival was founded 35 years ago to bring street painting festivals in Italy to the states and educate the public on street art.

“In the 16th century, soldiers returning home from battle in Italy would be in their towns in front of the churches, would draw pictures of the Virgin Mary of the Madonna, giving thanks for returning them home from battle,” Coston said. “We wanted to introduce that when we started this here in 1993 in front of City Hall to the American public … to introduce the art form of street painting because many people hadn’t seen it.”

But the start of the festival didn’t come without challenges as street art is different in its purpose compared to a painting. Coston said chalk art is comparable to a temporal art form like a dance or a symphony, which many artists in the beginning aren’t used to.

“(Artists are) very self conscious, and so we weren’t sure (Pasadena Chalk Festival) was going to happen again the second year,” Coston said. “In 2025, 32 years later, we’re in the 400 range of artists. It’s really been awesome, and they’ve gotten really good at it.”

Gloria Ing, a Pasadena Chalk Festival artist of 23 years, usually draws whimsical pieces. But this time, she drew her first political piece which was inspired by Pasadena’s No King’s protest that temporarily overlapped with the festival Saturday. Ing’s piece depicted a melting ice cube with a big bold “no” engraved on two of its sides.

“If people are already here and adding to society, why can’t they just stay instead of deporting them?” Ing said. “America wasn’t founded by just Americans. It used to be part of Mexico at one point. That’s why all our streets are like in Spanish, and then all these mission names are in Spanish as well.”

Like many other Pasadena Chalk Festival artists, Ing enjoys the community built by the festival as many veteran chalk artists travel around the state to different chalk festivals which organizers strongly encourage.

“There’s a ton of amazing artists, and a lot of them are my friends,” Ing said. “Once you’re an artist at the Pasadena Chalk Festival, it seems like you’re part of a bigger family that supports each other.”

Becoming a Pasadena Chalk Festival artist is simple, Coston said that anyone that wishes to become an artist can sign up on their website and submit a sketch.

At the end of the festival, artists can win prizes from a public vote and artist vote. Coston said the voting process is similar to the Academy Awards where artists vote amongst themselves in different categories such as best use of color, most humorous, best rendition, and all-time favorite. Artists who win get acknowledged with a prize and give a speech on what inspired them.

Coston’s favorite chalk art this year he finds humorous.

“One piece that I’m really drawn to, and it’s not like it has a huge message, it’s a dish with a beautiful piece of cake that’s cut up,” Coston said. “It’s just so beautifully drawn. It looks three dimensional, and it’s impeccable. And I happen to love cake.”

Adam Young is a freelancer who writes for the Southern California News Group.