Artists from as far away as Italy and Mexico are coming to tag up the streets of downtown Marietta this weekend.
Chalktoberfest will feature scores of chalk artists, live music and 125 craft beers on the Marietta Square.
The event is hosted by Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art and modeled it after the Sarasota Chalk Festival in Florida that reportedly has brought the coastal city $10.2 million in economic impact over three days, according to the museum.
The Marietta museum fundraiser event drew an estimated 30,000 people in 2015, which coincidentally is the same year the beer festival component was added.
The beer festival this year will be on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Chalktoberfest is free, but entry to the beer festival portion costs $40 ahead of time or $50 at the door; proceeds go to the museum. You can purchase tickets and check out the participating breweries online.
The amateur chalk competition will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Artists ages 6 and older can enter the competition until Friday.
The full rules of the contest are online, but basically artists are given a 24-color pack of chalk and a spot on the Square to art it up.
You can scope out your favorite featured international and local artists participating in the professional contest ahead of time here.
Some roads will be blocked for the festival, but know that there will be two parking decks open: the one at Waddell and Haynes streets along with the deck at Mill Street and North Marietta Parkway.
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