Pasadena Chalk Festival This Weekend

Yuji Baba drew a portrait of Taylor Swift at last year’s Pasadena Chalk Festival.

PASADENA — The 24th annual Pasadena Chalk Festival at Paseo Colorado will be held Father’s Day weekend, June 18 and 19, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 300 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.

With approximately 600 participating visual artists from all over Southern California, This event has grown to become the largest street painting festival in the world. In 2010, it broke the Guinness record for largest display of chalk art at one time in one place. The 20th anniversary event attracted a crowd of 120,000.

Featured artists include Yuji Baba, a graphic designer with experience in various types of types of illustration. Born in California and raised in Osaka, he is the head of YB Illustration (www.ybillustration.com), which designs company logos, characters, advertisements and more. His credits include packaging for “Star Wars” action figures and for book versions of the “Back to the Future” trilogy.

“This is my second year to be in the Pasadena Chalk Festival,” Baba said. “Last year I drew a portrait of Taylor Swift. This year, my mural is ‘Star Wars’ since I was always a big ‘Star Wars’ fan! I will bring my life-size BB-8 droid, which is also from ‘Star Wars.’”

Free and open to the public, the festival features:

– Kids Chalkland, an area for kids to create Father’s Day cards, plus free face-painting, from 12 to 5 p.m. both days.

– Animation Alley, featuring animation art and animators.

– Chalk of Fame, highlighting movie powers and iconic scenes in films.

– Artists Awards Ceremony on Sunday at 7 p.m. All festival winners will be announced, including People’s Choice Award. Voting begins Sunday. Last year’s winners include Moe Notsu, Best in Festival, first place; Shuji Nishimura, Best in Festival, second place, People’s Choice Award, and Best of Silent Auction.

For more information, visit http://pasadenachalkfestival.com.