The Pasadena Chalk Festival, scheduled to celebrate its 30th anniversary on Father’s Day Weekend in June, has been canceled.
The festival, held at The Paseo shopping center in downtown Pasadena for more than 15 years, was a popular event that drew hundreds of artists and thousands of visitors. It was also a benefit fundraiser for Light Bringer Project’s arts education programs in our schools.
Light Bringer Project said it was informed by the new owner of The Paseo, real estate developer Onni Group, that the previous financial and labor resources the festival has always relied upon will not be provided.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based Onni Group bought The Paseo from Capref Group last October.
Tom Coston, Board Chair of Light Bringer Project, said Onni told him that his nonprofit would need to build the stages, hire electricians, provide insurance and, in short, assume all the operational management previously handled by The Paseo.
“They basically said they weren’t going to … provide labor. We don’t know how to build stages. They told us that we needed to hire our own electrician and provide insurance for all of these things. We never have done this and we don’t know how to do it.”
“So basically we said, no, we can’t do that.”
Coston said his nonprofit cannot spend funds allocated to uses in the community in order to produce the Chalk Festival. “They’re designated for school programs and community-based programs,” he said.
He also said that if the Chalk Festival, which is a major fundraiser for the Light Bringer Project’s arts education programs in schools, is canceled, the organization’s services to the community will be affected.
“This is one of the things that we count on to be able to boost our ability to go out and serve the community.”
Onni Group has not responded to a request for comment.
Coston said the organization is currently inquiring with other venues and exploring other ways to be able to raise funds in order for the festival to push through.
“We’re looking at some crowdsourcing and some sponsorship and the right host site.”
“We’re considering the possibility of [returning] Labor Day, but we can’t say for sure. But if not Labor Day, we’d probably return next Father’s Day weekend in Pasadena in 2024. That’s our ambition.”
For more information and updates, visit pasadenachalkfestival.org.
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