{"id":456225,"date":"2026-09-07T13:20:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/456225\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T13:20:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:20:39","slug":"annual-chalk-art-music-festival-returns-to-fremont-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/456225\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Chalk & Art Music Festival returns to Fremont Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sunny<\/p>\n

Sunny Brice, 4, works on an original chalk art piece at the annual \u201cChalk It Up\u201d chalk art and music festival Saturday at Fremont Park in Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Vince Basada<\/p>\n

vince.basada@sacbee.com<\/p>\n

Chalk murals took shape around the perimeter of Fremont Park as the \u201cChalk It Up\u201d chalk art and music festival returned for another colorful Labor Day weekend.<\/p>\n

The free event runs through Monday\u2019s holiday, this year hosting around 200 artists. Money raised is used to fund grants for local arts education programs, said John Nelson, media director of the Chalk It Up nonprofit that runs the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a lot of artists, their art is a very solitary thing. It\u2019s something they do by themselves,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cWhen they participate in Chalk It Up and they volunteer their time, they\u2019re on stage. They have people walking by them all day long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Common themes among this year\u2019s murals are cartoon characters (from Calvin and Hobbes to Bluey), tributes to the recently deceased Dolly Parton and Tim Curry (two and one for each, respectively) and food items (especially pizza).<\/p>\n

\u201c(The festival goers) have all been super nice, super supportive, and there\u2019s been a lot of positive feedback,\u201d said chalk artist Jennifer Bailey, whose mural depicts a blue and orange octopus. Bailey has been making art at the festival for four years, and her 2025 mural of a goldfish is part of the festival\u2019s marketing for 2026.<\/p>\n

\"Artist Artist Jennifer Bailey, works on her mural of a blue and orange octopus, at the annual \u201cChalk It Up\u201d chalk art and music festival Saturday at Fremont Park in Sacramento. Vince Basada vince.basada@sacbee.com \"Tributes Tributes to Dolly Parton were among the murals taking form at the annual \u201cChalk It Up\u201d chalk art and music festival Saturday at Fremont Park in Sacramento. Vince Basada vince.basada@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a teacher myself, I was really proud to be a part of this festival,\u201d Bailey said.<\/p>\n

Other pieces, like those by Sally Castleberry and Karen Baumann, had more direct messages. Their mural bore messages including \u201cPro-DEI\u201d (diversity, equity and inclusion) and \u201cPro-Education,\u201d and featured imagery of national parks and a dove with an olive branch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe motivation was to not be political, but stand up for what is right,\u201d said Castleberry. \u201cIt\u2019s trying to make a political statement without being under fire, without being argumentative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside the park\u2019s perimeter, smaller art pieces made by festival attendees (mostly young kids) line the cement pathways. Local art vendors, craftspeople and food trucks fill much of the remaining grassy areas.<\/p>\n

\"Mariah Mariah Quintanilla illustrates the sidewalks around Fremont Park at the annual \u201cChalk It Up\u201d chalk art and music festival Saturday in Sacramento. Vince Basada vince.basada@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Live music has become almost as synonymous with the festival as smudges of chalk on fingers and faces, and attendees were dancing and enjoying the performances in the light heat of the early afternoon. Several artists and festival organizers noted that this weekend\u2019s temperatures, hovering around the mid-80s, are much more hospitable than the near-triple digits that have been observed some years.<\/p>\n

Though most of the actual artwork is completed by the end of the festival\u2019s first day, Nelson says the rest of the festival still has lots to offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaturday\u2019s an interesting day, because there\u2019s more artist interaction. Sunday is a great day because more of the art is on the cement. Monday is awesome because everything\u2019s done, and you can just see everything,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n

What to know before you go to Chalk It Up<\/p>\n

For those who plan on going to the festival and don\u2019t want to drive or deal with parking, Sacramento Regional Transit is offering special fare-free bus or light rail service to those attending the festival. Travelers will need to have a screenshot or printed copy of a special festival flyer available on SacRT\u2019s website. Only one flyer is required per group, and the offer is valid from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day of the event. The 16th Street station is the closest light rail stop to the festival.<\/p>\n

A free bike valet, open from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., is also available throughout the festival. The R Street Parking Plaza, located at 15th and R streets a block away from Fremont Park, will be offering special event pricing of $15.99 for all-day parking.<\/p>\n

More information on the festival and the musical performance lineup can be found on Chalk It Up\u2019s website, chalkitup.org\/festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published September 5, 2026 at 6:29 PM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Vince Basada<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Vince Basada is a 2026 summer reporting intern for The Sacramento Bee. He is a rising senior at UC Davis and works as a news editor at the school\u2019s student paper, The California Aggie.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sunny Brice, 4, works on an original chalk art piece at the annual \u201cChalk It Up\u201d chalk art…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-456225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}