The plan to draw visitors in this weekend to Montgomery, literally and figuratively, with an international chalk art competition has been put on hold until September.

That delay, asked for by the City of Calgary, moved the competition from June 22 to Sept. 14. It was chalked up to the current Bearspaw water main break in the community.

Montgomery BIA Executive Director Marion Hayes said that building community spirit through events like Chalk the Block has become even more important in light of that issue, which has been blocking traffic through the community.

“We were excited, and we still are excited. With the postponement till Sept. 14, it gives us a little bit of more time to get the word out and maybe get some more people that weren’t aware of it, out,” Hayes said.

“We were fortunate when we sent out the postponement to the artists that the majority of them can still make the new date work. We’re just hoping for some fantastic weather in September—nothing’s guaranteed, not even in June. So, I think it will be great because the businesses will need people to come to their doors and really support them.”

Hayes said that the competition had been something the BIA had been working on for the past three years to develop a truly unique event for Calgary that was unlike anything else that has been held in the city.

Part of that goal was to differentiate the BIA itself, which has a smaller retail footprint than some of the other BIAs in the city, with something that would be genuinely attractive to visitors.

“On 16 Avenue, they’re really destination businesses: if you need gas, if you’ve got to get your car repaired, and there’s some hotels. But we’re trying to bring people off 16 Avenue to see the other businesses that are on Bowness Road and down on 49 Street,” she said.

“I was down in Nashville a few years ago, and my cousin is an artist in Knoxville, so we went to visit and we started chatting about these great chalk fests that they have down there. That got us thinking, ‘well, let’s do something unique to Calgary.'”

Competition ideas shared with Calgary

Chalk the Block organizers have been talking with other festival organizers in Knoxville and Atlanta, said Hayes, to develop the competition concept for Calgary.

“It’s really about the artists, and the [competition] in Knoxville was fantastic, and the organizers were fantastic. We had multiple phone calls with them, and they shared the type of products that they used and how things work in the morning. Small little things, too, like chalk trading—if you’re an artist that’s using lots of oranges and reds, you can toss in your blues and greens—it’s a little small dynamics that we had to learn.”

That festival, the Dogwood Arts Chalk Walk, began in 2008 with just 35 artists. Now, it has grown to more than 300, and according to local Knoxville television station WVLT 8, had a waiting list half as long for the 2024 competition.

“I look at their event, and something like Lilac Fest that has grown over the years to surpass over 500 vendors and grow, grow, grow. That’s what we hope with this one, it’s going to start small,” Hayes said.

“We had three blocks set aside, and maybe in time will grow to be five or six blocks and draw a bigger crowd every year.”

Hayes said that due to scheduling conflicts forced by the postponement, they’re down to 35 artists from 50.

She said that they’re looking to hopefully keep a pair of chalk artists from both Florida and from Knoxville in the competition, and to take part in something else special for the BIA.

“I don’t want to let too much out of the bag, but we’ve got a new character being revealed at our event… so they were going to come up and draw our new Montgomery character on the sidewalk, and it was going to be an interactive artwork that people who were attending could also take part in.”

“So we really hope that we can get them to come out for September’s event,” she said.

September’s competition and festival to offer big prizes for students and professionals

Chalk the Block, said Hayes, is set to offer some great prizes for both student and professional artists when it is held in September.

She said that there is a $1,000 scholarship available for students attending the Alberta University of the Arts or the University of Calgary Fine Arts Department, and that other categories also have cash prizes and gift certificates.

“We hope that’s a draw. Then, we hope that people will come out and take in our neighbourhood for a day.”

Despite the postponement, there will also be one more interactive aspect to the competition that makes it unique to many other art competitions in the city.

“You do get to vote on the artwork. Every artist has a URL code, and then you just vote on the categories. We have a People’s Choice Award, and have a couple of celebrity judges lined up who also will be helping out with that,” said Hayes.

Ahead of the September competition though, Calgarians can still come to have some fun and excitement in Montgomery despite the water main issue closing down parts of 16 Avenue, Hayes said.

“I just ask people to come support our businesses right now, even before the event. It’s a little quiet. There’s lots of traffic but it seems to be going through and not stopping in. So if they could show a little support and love for both Bowness and Montgomery right now, we would really appreciate it.”

“Then we’ll see you on September 14.”

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek in the June 20 water main briefing said the City of Calgary has launched an Open for Business campaign in Bowness and Montgomery.

“If you’re looking to get your car fixed, or if you’re looking for something for your pet, or maybe a fun and interesting place for a date, maybe you need a new tattoo, I would highly recommend that you go to the businesses in Bowness and Montgomery and see if they can meet your needs. They are still open for business,” the mayor said.

For more details on Chalk the Block, see www.montgomerybia.com/events2024.