Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival

Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival poster

Chalk Art Contest 2011
1st Prize Winner

Chocolate: An Ancient Treat by Athena Lorente

Aquarium by Ryan Sommer

See all the 2011 chalk art contest winners >

Saturday, June 2, 2012, 10am-5pm,
(Rain Date June 9)
Gourmet Ghetto
North Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley.

Take BART to downtown Berkeley and walk north six blocks.

Chalk Art Contest!
Eat Chocolate!
Free Admission.

Make Chalk Art!
Eat Chocolate Goodies!
Schedule and Entertainers
Vendor Booths
Businesses: How to add to the chocolate menu
Businesses: Chalk Art on Your Sidewalk
Sponsors: Sponsor the festival
Vendors: Vendor info
Press: PRs PSAs

Berkeley, CA -- The sidewalks along North Shattuck Ave. in the Gourmet Ghetto in Berkeley are the target of artists young and old, professional and greenhorn during the 16th annual CHOCOLATE & CHALK ART FESTIVAL on Saturday, June 2 (rain date June 9).

With no fees to artists, areas of sidewalk will be assigned to participants to create their own fanciful chalk drawings. A CHALK ART CONTEST for the best drawing will be judged after 4 p.m. First prize is $250 cash and runners-up get a gift certificate from Philz Coffee. Winners will be notified by Monday after. Same-day registration takes place 10AM-5PM in event booths located at 1495 and 1673 Shattuck Ave. where special artist's chalk is available for $10.

To EAT CHOCOLATE start by purchasing a packet of tickets (20 for $20) at event booths located at 1400, 1495 and 1673 Shattuck Ave. The to-go menu features picante habañero chocolate chunks gelato, Nutella crepes, adult brownies, or savory chocolate ricotta pizza, Caribbean chocolate soup, chicken molé and lots more. Spend your tickets on these delights available in the local businesses then savor your chocolate as you stroll along the sidewalks, viewing the artwork. Or enter your tickets in a raffle for a real chocolate-colored diamond ring at M. Lowe & Co, or for a real pocket camera that looks just like chocolate at ArtVisions Portraiture. Vote for your favorite chocolate menu item by ‘liking’ it on the Chocolate and Chalk Art page on Facebook no later than Monday, June 4 at 5PM. Businesses with the most ‘liked’ menu items get bragging rights for a year.

Vendors with chocolate, chocolate-related items, and hand made arts and crafts fill the blocks between Rose and Vine Streets. There’s even a car to draw on with chalk. Sit in a Fiat 550 and have your photo taken that will get posted on Facebook, tag yourself, and get entered into a raffle for merchant gift certificates. A special children’s area at 1673 Shattuck Avenue has pony rides, inflatable bounce houses, jugglers, face painters and many more surprises.

Musical entertainment includes Sadza Marimba, The Blondies, Mo’Fone, Stafford & Sturdevant, InSteel Caribbean Drums, and Sean Lee’s One-Man Band. Merriment provided by the circus artistry of Coventry & Kaluza and stilt walker Cynthia Rauschert.

This is a family-friendly free event produced by Another Bullwinkel Show 510.548.5335 and sponsored by the North Shattuck Association, City of Berkeley, Fiat, Art Kapour Realty, Comcast, KFOG, Berkeleyside.com, East Bay Express, East Bay Loop and YELP. For a good time take BART to downtown Berkeley and stroll north six blocks.