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Kathy Bentaieb
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POPULAR PALO ALTO FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS RETURNS AUG. 23-24, 2025, WITH 250 FINE ARTISTS, LIVE MUSIC AND NEW DJ/BREW ZONE
42nd Annual Festival Features Visual and Performance Art, Including Italian Street Painting Expo, Chopin & Chandeliers ‘Play Me’ Piano and Multiple Music Stages
PALO ALTO, Calif. (June 27, 2025) – The Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, the very popular fine art and entertainment festival along nine blocks of downtown’s tree-lined University Avenue, returns for its 42nd year from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 23-24, 2025. Proudly hosted by the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce with support of the City of Palo Alto, this stunning, multifaceted art showcase spans all mediums, from 250 booths of unique fine art to live music to a street painting expo. New this year is Ramona Beats & Brews, a DJ/microbrew spin zone on Ramona Street.
250 PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
The backbone of the festival and the key to its success are the 250 fine artists whose display booths are placed along University Avenue. These exhibitors are one of the reasons this festival attracts such a high percentage of fine artists whose work you'll see at only a few select shows on the West Coast. From sculpture to glass, photography to wood, metal to ceramics to wearable fiber and more, the fabulous, handcrafted art is perfect for home, office and garden and includes unique and one-of-a-kind art pieces and wearable art.
NEW! RAMONA BEATS & BREWS
Introducing Ramona Beats & Brews, a microbrew/DJ spin zone where Ramona Street at University turns into a dance floor with non-stop DJs and ice-cold IPAs on tap, with all the good vibes. Whether you’re busting a move or relaxing with a pint, this is the place where hops meet hip-hop. Free admission; root beer and non-alcoholic beer will also be available.
CHOPIN & CHANDELIERS
Look for Chopin & Chandeliers' interactive “Play Me” piano on Bryant at University Avenue. Presented by Stanford Medicine, Chopin & Chandeliers is surrounded by colorful and whimsical chandeliers, made from recycled plastic bottles. The Community Partner for Chopin & Chandeliers is Christopher Piano. Come play for us!
ITALIAN STREET PAINTING EXPO
Festival attendees will have two full days to become immersed in some exceptional visual and performance art throughout the nine-block festival. The popular Italian Street Painting Expo along Tasso Street will showcase 100-square-foot and larger chalk-art paintings created by 17 amazing artists during the Festival's two-day run. Proceeds will go to support Ada’s Café, whose main priority is to create engaging and meaningful career experiences for adults with disabilities. The 2025 Featured Chalk Artists are Cheryl and Wayne Renshaw of Santa Clara, Calif. They will be creating a stunning 3D chalk art inspired by the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. This year, all the chalk artists will feature a heart somewhere in their designs, in memory of former longtime Palo Alto Festival of the Arts executive director Mary Lou Atkins, who passed away earlier this year.
CHALK-A-LOT FOR KIDS
Kids can get involved, too, by creating their own chalk canvases in the special Chalk-a-Lot area. For a nominal fee, youths create their own street chalk art. Chalk-a-Lot benefits Youth Community Service, which elevates youth voice to raise community connection and equity through service.
LIVE MUSIC ON MULTIPLE STAGES
Along with the DJs at Ramona Beats & Brews, a big part of the weekend experience is the wide variety of live musical entertainment, with ongoing performances on two stages and several street corner concerts. See the full entertainment lineup here.
The Waverley Stage is presented by Sutter Health. The lineup includes:
Saturday, Aug. 23
11:45 AM - 1:30 PM Katalysst
1:45-3:45 PM Tom Rigney
4:15 - 6:00 PM The Vinyl Countdown
Sunday, Aug. 24
11:45 AM - 1:30 PM Charged Particles
2:00 – 3:45 PM Last Call Troubadours
4:15 - 6:00 PM New Copasetics
The Webster Stage is sponsored by the California Coast Music Camp.
Saturday, Aug. 23
10:30 - 11:15 AM Andy Karn
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM Jon, Karen & Steve
1:00 - 1:45 PM Mike Simpson & Friends
2:15 - 3:00 PM Rockridge Ramblers
3:30 - 4:15 PM According to Bazooka
4:45 - 5:30 PM The Au Contraires
Sunday, Aug. 24
10:30 - 11:15 AM John Higham
11:45AM - 12:30 PM Midnight Kitchen
1:00 - 1:45 PM UKE Jam *Bring your ukuleles!
2:00 - 2:45 PM Steve Kritzer
3:15-4:00 PM M’EarthTones
4:30 - 5:15 PM Nancy Cassidy & The Community Sing
Street Corner concerts from noon to 5 p.m. both Aug. 23 and 24 at University and Cowper will feature Bob Augustine and at University and Emerson will be Norm Kahan.
FOOD AND DRINK
And, what's a summer festival without plenty of tasty food and beverages? For the wine connoisseur, enjoy a variety of wines and mimosas showcased at the wine booths, or for beer aficionados, your taste buds won't be disappointed. New this year are IPAs and root beer and also non-alcoholic beer at Ramona Beats & Brews. It’s a perfect pairing to go along with the fine art.
FREE ADMISSION
Admission is free. Plenty of convenient parking surrounds the festival, or better yet, take public transit with drop-off locations within close proximity of University Avenue. For public transit information, visit www.511.org.
Media sponsors include the Mercury News/Bay Area News Group and NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48.
PLEASE NOTE: The City of Palo Alto has a ban on the use of plastic and paper bags for carrying purchased merchandise. The Chamber of Commerce highly recommends that festival attendees bring their own tote bags for easy transportation of multiple purchases. Also, please be kind to your pets and leave them at home.
For more details, please visit www.paloaltochamber.com/festival or call 650-324-3121.
About the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce
The Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce is located in a unique community: a college town with excellent public and private schools, beautiful residential areas and tree-lined shopping districts, a world-class university and top healthcare institutions, and exciting arts and culture scene – all enlivened by a startup culture in an international hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship.
For more than 100 years, the Palo Alto Chamber has been an important connection to this exceptional community for visitors and residents alike.
Today’s Chamber members span the spectrum of 21st century businesses in the mid-Silicon Valley region, from local-serving retailers to global industries. Members take pride in their civic contributions and sponsorship of community-building events to ensure the vitality of the community as a whole.
For more information, visit www.paloaltochamber.com.
Watch Mesmerizing Art Come to Life in Italian Street Painting Expo at Palo Alto Festival of the Arts; Kids Can Participate in Interactive ‘Chalk-a-Lot’
Featured Artists Will Pay Tribute to 2026 Winter Olympics with Alpine Skier Theme
PALO ALTO, Calif. (Aug. 1, 2025) – The Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, the very popular fine art and entertainment festival, will celebrate art in all forms from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 23-24, 2025, along downtown’s tree-lined University Avenue. Proudly hosted by the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce with the support of the City of Palo Alto, this stunning, multifaceted art showcase spans all mediums, from 250 booths of unique fine art to live music to hands-on kids’ art and a street painting expo.
ITALIAN STREET PAINTING EXPO
Festival attendees will have two full days to become immersed in some exceptional visual and performance art throughout the nine-block festival. Tasso Street will provide again the canvas for the popular Italian Street Painting Expo, in which 100-square-foot and larger chalk pastel paintings by chalk artists throughout the state will be created on the asphalt over the festival’s run. And kids can get involved, too, by creating their own chalk canvases in the special Chalk-a-Lot area.
Husband-and-wife team Wayne and Cheryl Renshaw are this year’s Featured Artists. They have participated in every Palo Alto Festival of the Arts Italian Street Painting Expo since it began.
“We started on this grand ‘street painting’ adventure 25 years ago at a festival in Santa Barbara,” Wayne said. A dozen friends tried it out together. “The goal was to get more chalk on the ground than on each other – which we achieved with a questionable amount of success. A good time was had by all.” The Renshaws chalked with this group for a couple of years and then branched out on their own.
“The chalking community (or the “tribe” as it has come to be known) is a very welcoming community,” Wayne said. “Most artists know each other and are happy to share their tips and techniques. In fact, it is common for artists to jump in and assist other artists finish their work, due to rain, sickness, etc.”
Street painting is a hobby that they found they can do together. “We both enjoy art, drawing, painting and design,” he said. “We bring different, yet compatible skills to the package so it works for us.” They have participated in festivals throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
As much as they enjoy street painting, they still have day jobs: Wayne is an architect, running his own office in Santa Clara, and Cheryl is a landscape designer who also works at Gamble Garden in Palo Alto as “Plant Geek.”
Their chalk art this year will pay tribute to the February 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. “Part of the process of doing a street painting is coming up with an image to draw, and there is no shortage of exciting things to draw when using the Olympics as a theme,” Wayne said. “For this project, we will be focusing on the unique setting of the Italian landscape and the alpine skiers flying down the mountain side.”
Their chalk art will be in an “anamorphic” or “3D” style. “We introduce distortions into the image in order to make it appear as if the skier is flying right in front of you,” he said.
You can catch all the chalk artists in action during the two days of the Festival, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 23-24, on Tasso and University in downtown Palo Alto.
Along with Wayne and Cheryl, 16 more amazing chalk artists are participating this year in 100-square-foot and larger street canvases. See the full list at https://www.paloaltochamber.com/festival-of-the-arts-artist-italian-street-painting.
This year, all the chalk artists will feature a heart somewhere in their designs, in memory of former longtime Palo Alto Festival of the Arts executive director Mary Lou Atkins, who passed away earlier this year.
Proceeds from the sponsored-street paintings will go to support Ada’s Café, whose main priority is to create engaging and meaningful career experiences for adults with disabilities.
A big thank-you to our Italian Street Painting Expo Community Sponsors: Anne Barry; Todd Cerf & Family; Common Roots Farm; In Loving Memory of Margaret Florsheim: Frome Family Foundation; Sue Garadis; Gidaro Family; Hahn Family; Klausner Family; National Charity League; Oftedal-Macquarie Family; Ellyn P.; Palo Alto Community Fund; Palo Alto Rotary; PA University Rotary in Honor of Mike Teutschel; Pathways: Belong, Believe, Become; and Wisteria Foundation.
Kids’ Chalk-a-Lot
The Kids’ Chalk-a-Lot area, toward the end of Tasso near Lytton, allows youths to purchase for a nominal fee a 2x2-foot asphalt canvas to create their own chalk art. The Kids’ Chalk-a-Lot area will benefit Youth Community Service, which elevates youth voice to raise community connection and equity through service.
FESTIVAL DETAILS
Admission to the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts is free. Plenty of convenient parking surrounds the festival, or better yet, take public transit with drop-off locations within close proximity of University Avenue. For public transit information, visit www.511.org.
Media sponsors include the Mercury News/Bay Area News Group and NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48.
For more details, please visit www.paloaltochamber.com/festival or call 650-324-3121.
About the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce
The Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce is located in a unique community: a college town with excellent public and private schools, beautiful residential areas and tree-lined shopping districts, a world-class university and top healthcare institutions, and exciting arts and culture scene – all enlivened by a startup culture in an international hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship.
For more than 100 years, the Palo Alto Chamber has been an important connection to this exceptional community for visitors and residents alike.
Today’s Chamber members span the spectrum of 21st century businesses in the mid-Silicon Valley region, from local-serving retailers to global industries. Members take pride in their civic contributions and sponsorship of community-building events to ensure the vitality of the community as a whole.
For more information, visit www.paloaltochamber.com.