Palo Alto Festival Of The Arts 2011

This high quality, community-friendly event is sponsored by the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce and the City of Palo Alto. In the past it has attracted over 150,000 people every year from throughout California and the West Coast. The festival-now celebrating its twenty-ninth 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 three hundred 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.

Always a crowd-pleaser, the Italian Street Painting Expo will again offer fifty chalk artists creating larger-than-life works of art all weekend long on Tasso Street. This year's new beneficiary of the Italian Street Painting Expo is Palo Alto's Youth Community Services.

Local participation is high at this event. The Palo Alto Parents & Professionals for Art are the organizers and beneficiaries of the kids' art & crafts area called the Kids' Art Studio. Also, the Kiwanis of Palo Alto will again manage and serve the micro-brews and fine wines that can be found throughout the festival.

For those driving to the festival, free parking is within a block or two of the festival site, but festival attendees are encouraged to use public transit or ride a bike. Bike valet parking is offered at the Union Bank parking lot on Waverley. For transit information, call the TravInfo line in your area at 817-1717.

If you are a dog owner thinking about bringing "Fido" to the festival, please reconsider. Large crowds can easily make a typically mellow dog very anxious & sometimes aggressive.