This weekend, October 8-9, Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art presents its annual Chalktoberfest that takes place around the Marietta Square and down Atlanta Street to the museum. This year, the Chalktoberfest theme is “Old Masters” and will feature over 80 contracted, professional chalk artists from around the US, Mexico and Canada. Artists will draw in front of spectators during both dates from 10a.m. to 5 p.m. Featured artists include world renowned chalk artists: Nate Baranowski, Jennifer Chaparro, Dorothy Sabean, Willie Zin, Joel Yau, Rod Tryon, Cuong Nguyen and many more. Admission to MCMA is free for the duration of the festival.MCMA encourages guests to visit local restaurants and talk to professional artists from around the country as they create their masterpieces.
Craft Beer Festival – Saturday October 8th
On Saturday, Oct. 8th, Chalktoberfest includes their annual Craft Beer Festival in conjunction with the Chalk Festival. This Craft Beer Festival allows visitors to walk around and enjoy the Chalk Art while drinking samples. There will be a selection of over 125 different kinds of craft beer. Pictured former Mayor, Bill Dunaway volunteers at the Sweetwater truck.
Tickets for Craft Beer Festival
General Admission: $35 for the first 500 tickets, $40 for the second 500 tickets and $45 at the festival (Cash Only): Includes unlimited tasting from 11:00 – 5:00pm.
VIP $75 – Includes unlimited tasting from 11:00 – 5:00pm, access to the VIP Lounge which features specialty beers not included in the General Admission, a Big Screen TV showing the Saturday games, complimentary snacks from Whole Foods and a Commemorative Pint Glass. Tickets are available at www.chalktoberfest.com.
Concerts: Saturday night.
Music abounds all day and to top it off Chalktoberfest will feature an after hours concerts in the Park with live music by A1A the Jimmy Buffet Tribute Band and Paul Hand Band. Paul Hand Band starts at 6:00pm Jeff Pike and the A1A Jimmy Buffet Tribute Band, celebrating 25 years of entertaining, begins at 7:00 pm. If you miss Jeff Pike on Saturday night, he will be at Hemmingway’s on the Square. Buy your Jimmy Buffet Parrot Head concert tables for $75 for a table of 8 at www.chalktoberfest.com under the purchase beer tickets tab.
Sunday, Oct. 9th
On Sunday, Oct. 9th, Chalktoberfest will move out the Beer Festival and bring in their Creative Kids craft-making section 1:00pm – 5:00pm, geared toward children of all ages – and host their non-professional Chalk Competition with Youth, Teen, School, and Adult Divisions.
Family Fun- Something for the whole family!From food to shopping to the bounce house, Chalktoberfest has something fun for everyone . On Sunday, Oct 9, we’ll have a whole street of activities for your family to share! Play a game, chalk a masterpiece, or make a wide range of kid-friendly crafts. We’ll have tickets available for $1 each, and each craft will cost one or two tickets.
Aspiring chalk artists ages 6 and up are also welcome to join our Non-Professional Chalk Contest and compete for cool prizes. Space is limited, so please see our Competition page for registration fees and details. As of this writing there is room for Youth and Teen.
Artists ages 6 and up are invited to create their best chalk artwork during Chalktoberfest on Sunday, October 9, 2016. Competition starts at 10:00am. Winners announced at 3:00pm. The Professional Chalk area will be available to view until 8:00pm Sunday night.
Does this event have an economic impact? The 2015 Chalktoberfest was awarded Event of the Year by Cobb Travel and Tourism, having brought in over 30,000 visitors and resulting in an economic impact of over 3.3 million dollars. Additionally, the 2015 Chalktoberfest was awarded the Mayor’s Art Award for the City of Marietta.
“Chalktoberfest enables us to fulfill our mission of ‘Building community through art’ and we have been overwhelmed by the positive response from the community with regards to what we are presenting,” states Sally Macaulay, Executive Director of MCMA, “MCMA anticipates a record turn out once again in 2016.”
BELOW are a few photos of Chalktoberfest 2015