The Tampa Bay Chalk Festival takes over the sidewalks of 22nd Street, between 7th Avenue S and 9th Avenue S in St. Pete. Credit: Photo via pinellasdap/Facebook
For the second year in a row, St. Pete’s Pinellas Diaspora Arts Project—a nonprofit that aims to “support, encourage, and promote BIPOC Arts and Artists in Tampa Bay”—hosts its community-organized chalk festival in the historic Deuces district.

The sidewalks of 22nd Street, between 7th Avenue S and 9th Avenue S, will once again be adorned with colorful chalk art from professional artists, local residents and art enthusiasts alike. While there are no food or drinks at the festival, organizers encourage attendees to patronize one of the nearby restaurants in southside St. Pete, like Lorene’s Fish House, Heavy’s, Rastaman Natural Juices, Night Flow Restaurant or Urban Drinkery.

“This is an opportunity to bring together the community of artists, recreation centers, youth providers, and businesses, in addition to showcasing professional artists’ chalk work from near and far,’’ festival organizer Debbie Yati Garrett writes about the second annual Tampa Bay Chalk Festival. “And most importantly to give our children a day of art expression using chalk and art while having fun.”

The PDAP is also using this weekend’s festival to help kick off its new Beautify Project by encouraging folks to adorn river rocks that will outline Urban Drinkery’s property.

There’s no cover for the 2nd Annual Tampa Bay Chalk Festival happening Saturday, May 4. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. in the Deuces district of St. Petersburg.
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This article appears in May 2-8, 2024.

Kyla Fields is the food critic and former managing editor of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay who started their journey at CL as summer 2019 intern. They are the proud owner of a charming, sausage-shaped, eight-year-old...