Chalk it up to being a tourist

The local newspaper is useful for knowing what's happening in Victoria. Today I particularly wanted to go to the Chalk Art Festival, which was being held outdoors at the Inner Harbour. This is the most touristy area of the city, so today - for the first time since we arrived - I guess we were tourists!

The theme of this year's festival was "Adventures in the Forest World; a Celebration of Nature's Spirits".

It was a warm, sunny afternoon and was perfect for walking. Finding parking is a little challenging in the city core, but we managed.

Many of the artists were from British Columbia, but there were also some international ones. I did notice one from Guadalajara, Mexico and another from New Mexico, USA.

I felt bad from the artist who worked on this piece, as she landed a spot with a big crack in the paving. I guess she could have worked it into her art, but it seems to me she didn't take that opportunity.

Today was the second and final day of the event, and we were there mid-way through their day. I wondered what the artwork looked like yesterday; were they less complex, or did they start over each day perhaps? I didn't ask.

There was lots of pieces to look at. We also took in other sights at the harbour, but I'll leave those photos for another day.

Easily my favourite were those that had foot placement markers below them, and you were to look at them through your camera and you'd see them in 3D. The one above is one of those, but I can't say I could relate to the 3D too much on this one.

This one is easily my favourite, and as I hope you can see, is a great example of 3D work. I thought it was amazing.

Although I know it's controversial, I enjoy the artistic aspect of graffiti. This reminded me a little of that, and so I was looking forward to the festival and was not disappointed.

Note: double click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

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Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Weather: High of 24ºC (76ºF) low 12ºC (54ºF)