KERRVILLE, Texas – A free family-friendly chalk festival is taking place in Kerrville this weekend.
The 8th annual Kerrville Chalk Festival will feature an estimated 75 artists who will start working on 55 large-scale chalk drawings Saturday morning. Completion of some of the larger chalk art pieces may take the entire weekend.
Festivities will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16 at Peterson Plaza in downtown Kerrville.
There will be free guided tours of the adjacent Schreiner Mansion, and six established food truck vendors.
Kerrville Chalk Festival officials said there will be many free activities for children to enjoy over the course of the weekend.
This year there will be a large 7×14-foot patriotic-themed street painting created by Kelly Faltemayer and Russ Gobel of Houston.
Additional artists include Ever Galvez, Jennifer Ripassa and Lysa Ashley from Los Angeles; Jessi Queen and Zach Herdon, both from Atlanta; Joel Yau of San Francisco; Henry Darnell and Carrie Dziabczenko from Dallas; Kayla Kilmartin of Corpus Christi; Julie Mangum of Llano; Tish Miller of Kerrville; as well as Hung Pham and Marcos Hernandez from Houston.
Local professional artists Marty Garcia, Vivian Gray, Aurora Joleen, Vicki Keese, Stephanie Keller and Liz Painter are also participating.
Groups from Peterson Middle School, Tivy High School, Ingram Tom Moore High School, Our Lady of the Hills College Prep, The Hunt School, Fredericksburg High School and the Hill Country Youth Ranch will all be chalking squares.
Live music will be provided by the Corey Weaver Band, Matt Dunn, Kasberg Jazz Band, St. James’s Gate, RBQ, The Unknowns, Dixieland All-Stars and Kevin McCormick.
It has become a tradition for South Texas Bagpiper Lary Fowler to close the festival on Sunday with “Amazing Grace,” officials said.
Proceeds from the festival will benefit the nonprofit Kerr Arts & Cultural Center.
The festival is a sprinkle-or-shine event. Pets are not allowed on the festival grounds, except registered and documented service animals. For more information, visit KerrvilleChalk.org
Free parking is available in the City of Kerrville parking garage on Clay Street.