Paint The Street: Via Colori, This Weekend

Another of those H-town things that sound damn, damn cool and that I’ve always meant to check out…

This coming Saturday and Sunday, November 20th & 21st, is the Houston installment of the Via Colori Street Painting Festival, once again benefiting the Center for Hearing and Speech. It’s the fifth anniversary of the festival, which is probably why it sounds like the folks organizing the thing are pulling out all the stops (there’s even a mural that’ll bring together the talents of 8 different artists)…

Now, if you’re not up on what this is about, well, the festival’s all about (derr) street painting, which means that there’ll be tons of artists (and regular folks, as well) doing some amazing, amazing art right there on the concrete & asphalt beneath your feet. Like I said, I’ve never been, but the pictures make it look pretty mindblowing. The things these people can do on the ground are just astounding to my non-artistic self.

Plus, there’s plenty of other stuff going on at the same time, notably some really great music. You can view the full schedule over here, but there’re some definite highlights for me, notably soulful psych-rockers {The Tontons}, the mesmerizing {Benjamin Wesley}, quirky/arty mini-orchestra {Two Star Symphony}, local reggae legends {D.R.U.M.}, long-running (and very entertaining) folksters {The Flying Fish Sailors}, cool, sweet-voiced singer/songwriter dude {Arthur Yoria} (who seems to make more and more stoned-sounding music as his career rolls on, btw), excellent trad-country gang Robert Ellis & The Boys, and jazz vocalist {Kristine Mills}.

And, of course, there’s all kinds of stuff for kids — including an area where your child (for a measly $10 donation) can do their own neat little piece of street art — a bungee-jump area, a health-screening area, and plenty of food & drinks & such, as well.

I should mention, by the by, that The Center for Hearing and Speech is a fine, fine organization that helps hearing-impaired kids, teaching them how to communicate without using sign language. They’re a group that definitely deserves your support, and this is a very cool way to do it. I’m going to attempt to drag the fam (or at least Munchkin #1) down for a little while either Saturday or Sunday, myself.

This year’s festival runs from 10AM-6PM Saturday and 10AM-5PM Sunday, and it takes place on the western edge of downtown, right on Allen Parkway and Bagby St., next to Sam Houston Park. Go here for a detailed map & directions. Oh, and while it does cost money to actually do your own street art, the festival’s free, free, free.