The first annual “Chalk Art Splatter Festival” in Hapeville was a lot of fun, and despite the rain, it was a success. This year’s festival had a fantasy theme, “Dragons, fairies, princesses, and knights in shinning armor” and took place over the June 17th & 18th weekend. There were 10 talented professionals who were invited to create original works, each person or team working on a 10×10 piece of the pavement.
It can be hard for first year festivals to get organized and deal with the weather, but their team of volunteers was on it every step of the way; from the home cooked food and southern hospitality to the large umbrella’s that were brought in to shade us from the sun. No artist was left wanting. Hapeville has the small town charm in the big city!
Saturday started off well. The sun was shinning and the organizer, John Cristian of Go Georgia Arts, was on the mic welcoming guests and talking about the street art and venders who were at the festival. Two artist’s managed to finish on the first day; Andrew Patrick Henry, a newbie chalker who produced a stunning portrait, and Katie Bush who created an amazing 3D unicorn in the clouds. Aside from our local line-up, artist Genesis Allione traveled all the way from West Palm Beach, FL to participate along with her sister.
At 5:00 the rain came, tarps were laid down and each piece was covered and taped to try and keep the water away, so we crossed our fingers and went to have dinner.
Sunday we arrived onsite with the sunrise to check the damage and uncover the plastic. Only the dragon’s 
seemed to have survived relatively unscathed, with only a little patchiness from the water leaking through. Almost every other piece was completely gone, so we waited for the road to dry up to start again. People always ask “what happens when it rains?” and the answer is nothing, we just wait then start again when we can. Sometimes the downpour is light enough to keep working, other times the ground becomes so wet you just have to call it. We managed to get a few more hour’s in before it started up again. There are a few fun parts about rain, one of my favorite being when the wet chalk pigment leaves an imprint on the plastic when you uncover (shown on the left), another simply watching all the colors puddle up and flow along the street. It’s never a loss, just part of the experience.
So thank you Hapeville for your enthusiasm and support, we look forward to next year as this festival holds the potential to continue to grow and become something great.
Read more about the festival in the South Metro Neighbor
[unitegallery hapeville]
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