Chalking up a world record
Pasadena Chalk Festival tries to convince Guiness that it’s the biggest event of its kind
06/17/2010
For the past 17 years, the Pasadena Chalk Festival has been one of the biggest annual happenings on the local arts scene calendar. But this weekend, founder Tom Coston is trying to prove it’s the biggest event of its kind in world.
Coston, head of the Light Bringer Project, the nonprofit producers of the iconic Doo Dah Parade, is trying to earn the world record for largest street painting festival in the world, an honor that will be earned through the help of a team of witnesses called adjudicators who will count the number of chalk artists — also known as “madonnari,” after their initial title in the art form’s birth nation of Italy – and paintings in order to verify that it indeed is the largest assemblage of such images on the planet.
“We already have the largest one, but we have to prove it this year to get in the records book,” says Coston. “We’ll break the record this year with 190 murals, and maybe up to 200 murals, which is the biggest we’ve ever been. Street painters used to work as solitary artists, going from city to city in Italy after World War II. So to have it develop into this is quite remarkable. Our fest has really put a spotlight on the art form.”
Coston is also excited about this year’s new addition of the Chalk of Fame, which is an area of film-related murals located in front of the newly launched ArcLight Theatre. Inside the ArcLight lobby, there will also be an exhibition of nearly 20 artists’ work in framed chalk art, while the fest will also add a buzz of extra activity at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and its simultaneous Make Music Pasadena fest.
“The Chalk Fest is a wonderful addition that we can always count on to bring quality, energy and dynamism to the city,” says Rochelle Branch, cultural affairs manager for the city of Pasadena, who also notes that this year’s fest was partially funded by a $7,000 grant from the city.
“Events like this have been documented to provide $24 per person in revenues to the city, so in addition to a fun artistically interesting event, the chalk festival also has a significant economic impact to the city.”
The 18th Annual Pasadena Chalk Festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Paseo Colorado, 280 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Admission is free. Call (626) 795-8891 or visit pasadenachalkfestival.com.
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT