2025 Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest at Schwiebert Riverfront Park -- May 31 and June 1.
Saturday, May 31, and Sunday, June 1
Schwiebert Riverfront Park, 101 17th Street, Rock Island IL
With the eagerly anticipated weekend event hosted by Rock Island's Quad City Arts and taking place for the ninth time, glorious colors and imaginative designs will be gracing the pavement of Rock Island's Schwiebert Riverfront Park in the Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest, a May 31 and June 1 pre-summertime fixture boasting free admission, beautiful artistic creations, live music, children's activities, food and drink vendors, and more than $2,000 in cash prizes.
Inspiring and engaging for art fans of all ages, this free, two-day street-painting festival brings together hundreds of local and regional artists – professionals and amateurs alike – who spend hours transforming the blank cement pavement into magnificent works of art, using only the medium of chalk. Visitors strolling by can see the wonderful works of art as they come to life and vote for their favorites, with adults and youths eligible for the People's Choice prize of $250. Additional cash awards include $500 for first place, $300 for second place, $250 for third place, $100 each for two honorable mentions, and the $100 Artist's Choice prize with both adults and youths eligible, and one voting slip per artist/team provided in the participating artists' welcome bag. For the Youth Awards, first place earns $150 for the artist plus $200 in art supplies for their school, with second place receiving $100 and third place receiving $50 – the latter the same amount given to recipients of two specific Category Awards: "Best 3D," and "Best Reproduction."
The chalk-art competition will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 31 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 1, with the awards themselves distributed on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. For a $5 donation, interested participants are also welcome to take part in this year's community collaboration piece, and given a set of chalk pastels to fill in a 2’ x 2’ portion of a larger image. When finished, the larger piece will come to life as a complete work of art, while participants get to keep their chalk, take it home, and create a masterpiece on their own sidewalks.
Throughout the weekend, this year's Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest will also feature six sets with popular area musicians and a popular radio presence. On Saturday, a DJ set with iHeart Radio host Mark Manuel will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., followed by performances by Grupo Nuevo Estilo (1:30 to 2:30 p.m.), Frankie Joe & Kinfolk (3:15 to 4:45 p.m.), and the Jenny Lynn Stacy Band (5:15 to 7 p.m.). On Sunday, Voices by Share perform from 11 to 11:40 a.m., students from the QC Rock Academy play from noon to 1:45 p.m., with area favorites The Textures electrifying the crowd from 2:15 to 4 p.m.
The festival's children's activities include face painting, a bounce house, the Kaleidoscope Bus, a kid's chalk zone, and the "Have a Heart for Kidneys" community art project, with the Rock Island Public Library's Library2Go on site from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Food vendors for the event include Kona Ice of Eastern Iowa, Bent River Brewery, Arley's Food Truck, Bayside Bistro, and Westmoreland Concessions. And as Quad City Arts reminds the weekend's guests, "the 'paintings' are temporary, lasting only until the next rainfall, so you’ll want to catch a glimpse before they're gone."
For more information on the 2025 Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest taking place on May 31 and June 1, call (309)793-1213 and visit QuadCityArts.com/chalk-art-fest.
