The 2024 Denver Chalk Art Festival

This past weekend the 2024 Denver Chalk Art Festival took place in Denver's Golden Triangle neighborhood, just south of the Denver Art Museum (The DAM). This annual event started back in 2003 as La Piazza, Larimer Square's Italian Street-Painting Festival, which became an immediate hit. However, it was canceled during the pandemic, and was moved to its current location when it restarted in 2022. I remember attending it that year, and was kind of disappointed with it. However, CherryArts, the organization that runs the nationally known Cherry Creek Arts Festival, has gotten involved over the past few years and has made it into a very fun and popular event.

My sister Susan and I arrived fairly early yesterday morning, before it got too hot, and found that the crowds were already there, enjoying chalk art that was spread across 4 blocks. The festival now has a music stage and lots of food booths, as well as food trucks. Like other art shows, the artists presenting their drawings were chosen by judges. There were 5 "featured artists," who were actually professionals, while the rest were amateurs - very talented amateurs. Susan and I both enjoyed attending this festival very much.

Back in the day, the Denver Chalk Art Festival was one of two festivals held in Denver on the first weekend in June. The People's Fair took place at the same time, and was the larger of the two events. It was held in Civic Center Park near downtown, and consisted of 500 booths selling art, crafts, and food, and charitable organizations offering their services. I would always attend this event first, and then head over to Larimer Square to see the chalk art. The People's Fair was run by a non-profit called Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN) and held annually since 1972. However, CHUN decided to buy a mansion located on Cheeseman Park to serve as their headquarters, and to obtain the money for this, sold the rights to the event to a private company. And just a few years later, in 2019, when the People's Fair did not provide the revenue they expected, the event was permanently canceled. I hope all those CHUN executives are enjoying that mansion. It did indeed come at a very high cost.