A chalk-work of actor Steve McQueen takes shape during the 2018 Lake Worth Street Painting Festival. / Katy Lynch

Hundreds of artists will soon transform the streets of downtown Lake Worth into colorful works of art during the city’s Street Painting Festival, set for Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 23-24, 2019.

Using chalk, artists create a temporary gallery of art. Many of the artists are highly adept at creating three-dimensional (3-D) illusionist paintings.

Expect to see many colorful — and some not-so-colorful but always creative — works at the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival. / Katy Lynch

This annual event — this year marks its 25th anniversary — attracts more than 100,000 visitors. During the festival, which begins at 10 a.m. both days, Lake and Lucerne Avenues — the main routes through downtown — are closed to vehicle traffic between Dixie Highway (U.S. 1) and Federal Highway. Admission is … free!


The event also features music on the Cultural Plaza Mainstage, a food court, vendors, the Children’s Meadow, and plenty of restaurants and shops on Lake and Lucerne Avenues.

Proceeds from the nonprofit festival help to fund the event; in addition, they benefit the Street Painting Festival Scholarships. These are awarded each May to Palm Beach County graduating high-school students, as well as to community projects associated with the arts.

For more information, visit www.streetpaintingfestivalinc.org. For a site map, which includes the location of the free shuttle’s drop-off and pickup points, visit www.streetpaintingfestivalinc.org/index.php/contact.

The shuttle runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days and will pick up passengers from the Lake Worth Tri-Rail Station, just west of Lake Worth High School; and from Palm Beach State College, 4200 Congress Ave., in suburban Lake Worth.