Palo Alto Festival of the Arts
This high-quality festival, attracts 250 fine art & contemporary craft displays, Italian Street Painting Expo, Kids’ Art Studio, specialty areas, stage & street entertainment, gourmet food, fine wines & micro-brews.
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August 26 & 27, 2023 • 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. • University Avenue, Palo Alto
This event attracts people every year from throughout California and the West Coast. The festival—celebrating its 40th year—takes place on tree-lined University Avenue in beautiful downtown Palo Alto, a vital economic area 35 miles south of San Francisco.
The backbone of the festival and the key to its success are the 250 fine artists and crafters whose display booths are placed back-to-back along University Avenue. These exhibitors are the reason why this festival attracts such a high percentage of fine artists and crafters whose work you’ll see only at a few select shows on the West Coast.
While strolling through the festival, don’t forget to stop by and listen to sidewalk piano virtuosos located at Bryant St. Look for the PLAY ME sign. More Info
The Italian Street Painting Expo—always a crowd-pleaser—will again showcase chalk artists from throughout the state, creating larger-than-life works of art. Tasso Street is where it’s happening so don’t miss it. This year’s co-beneficiaries of the Italian Street Painting Expo fund-raisers are the Palo Alto Youth Community Service and Ada’s Cafe.
Local participation is high at this event. The Palo Alto Art Center and Oshman Family JCC are the organizers and beneficiaries of the kids’ “hands on” art & crafts area. Look for the Kids’ Art Studio located at the end of Tasso. Also, throughout the festival, the Kiwanis Club of Palo Alto will again be serving alcoholic beverages for everyone’s enjoyment.
PLEASE NOTE: The City of Palo Alto has a ban on the use of plastic & paper bags for carrying purchased merchandise. The Chamber of Commerce highly recommends that festival attendees bring their own tote bags for easy transportation of multiple purchases.
For those driving to the festival, free parking is within a block or two of the festival site, with parking for disabled patrons in all city lots.
If you are a dog owner thinking about bringing “Cuddles” to the festival, please reconsider. Large crowds can easily make a typically mellow dog very anxious & sometimes aggressive.
