Upcoming dates
For four days each June, the sidewalks of Bountiful's Historic Main Street become a gallery that is drawn while you watch and fades with the next rain. Magic on the Sidewalk, the Bountiful Chalk Art Festival, is free, runs Wednesday through Saturday, and has been going for about two decades: the Joy Foundation, which organizes it, billed the 2024 festival as its 19th. The 2026 festival ran June 3 to 6.
The basics
- When: four days, Wednesday to Saturday, in late May or June. The 2023 festival ran May 31 to June 3, 2024's ran June 26 to 29, 2025's ran June 4 to 7, and 2026's ran June 3 to 6.
- Where: the sidewalks of Historic Main Street in Bountiful, between 100 North and 200 South. Awards are presented at Bountiful Town Square, 75 East 200 South.
- Cost: free to walk and watch.
- Who runs it: the Joy Foundation, at kidsfindjoy.org. In 2024 the Bountiful Davis Art Center added a Chalk Your Walk activity in association with the foundation.
How the four days work
Artists start on Wednesday and have three days to finish, with everything due by Friday evening. The pieces range from about 3 feet square up to 10 feet by 10 feet. The work is judged, and the winners are announced at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Bountiful Town Square. In 2023 the awards were followed by an open-mic night from the Joy Foundation, and Food Truck Friday ran downtown the same week.
When to go
- To watch artists at work: Wednesday or Thursday, when the grids and underdrawings are going down and the artists have time to talk.
- To see finished work: Friday evening or Saturday, because artists are asked to finish by Friday evening.
- For the awards: Saturday at 6 p.m. at Town Square.
The drawings stay on the sidewalk until weather and feet wear them away, so the days after the festival can be a bonus. A hard rain can erase a piece overnight, though. The festival has also moved around the calendar over the years, from mid-May in 2019 to late June in 2024, so confirm the dates each spring.
Drawing in it yourself
Artist registration opens in the spring. For 2026 it opened on April 20 at 7 a.m., announced on the festival's own page. Keep an eye on kidsfindjoy.org and the festival's social media from early spring if you want a square.
Utah's chalk-art season
Chalk art in Utah is a short season with a few anchors, and Bountiful's is the one in June.
The Gateway, Salt Lake City. The Utah Chalk Art Festival filled Rio Grande Street on Saturday, September 5, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission was free, 22 artists took part, and a Kids Corner offered chalk, designs and tips from art teachers. The festival is led by Utah artist Nicole Kleinman, with chalk artists Camille Grimshaw and Brittany Shepler. Kleinman, a BYU animation graduate, fell for chalk art at a festival at The Gateway when she was 12. Each artist works a space of up to 64 square feet, every artist is paid a stipend, and the 2026 lineup included Erik Greenawalt of Pittsburgh, known as The Chalking Dad, whose 3-D chalk pieces are optical illusions on the pavement.
The Gateway's chalk history runs deeper than that. Utah Foster Care's chalk festival there reached its 20th year in 2022, with more than 100 artists over Father's Day weekend.
West Jordan. Chalk the Walk, a free festival the city runs with the Salt Lake County Library, took place on August 29, 2026, at the Viridian Event Center amphitheater. Anyone can register to draw, and the city posts its winners by category.
Farmington. Festival Days in early July includes its own chalk art contest, with cash prizes for registered artists. Our guide to Davis County's summer festivals has the details.
Getting there from Provo
Bountiful is about an hour's drive north on I-15. Historic Main Street has shops and restaurants along the route, which makes the festival an easy evening out. For more ideas in the same direction, see our guide to day trips from Provo.
Pair it with
June is a good month for Davis County. Lagoon is a short drive up the road in Farmington, and Antelope Island is an easy add. In odd-numbered years from 2027, Hill Air Force Base's Warriors Over the Wasatch air show follows in late June.
Related Guides
- Warriors Over the Wasatch: the Hill Air Force Base air show
- Lagoon from Provo
- Antelope Island from Provo
- Day trips from Provo
- Festivals across Utah Valley
Frequently Asked Questions
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