Orlando launches inaugural DTOLive Chalk Art Festival, turning City Hall Plaza into a temporary gallery
Downtown event brings large-scale 2D and 3D street art to the heart of the city
Downtown Orlando hosted its first DTOLive Chalk Art Festival on February 6–7, 2026, transforming the pavement at City Hall Plaza into an open-air exhibition of temporary chalk murals. The free, two-day event ran from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at City Hall Plaza, 400 S. Orange Ave., drawing residents and visitors into a weekend centered on street painting and public-facing visual art.
Organizers said more than 30 professional and emerging artists were scheduled to create large-scale works across the plaza, including both traditional flat compositions and perspective-based 3D pieces designed to produce optical-illusion effects when viewed from specific angles. The format allowed the public to watch artworks develop over the course of the day, with the finished pieces remaining visible afterward until weather and foot traffic gradually erase them.
How the festival was structured
The festival’s footprint was focused on the City Hall Plaza hardscape, a high-visibility civic space frequently used for downtown programming. Live music was part of the event plan throughout the weekend, and on-site food and beverages were available for purchase from the City Beautiful Cafe, supporting longer visits and sustained pedestrian activity in the immediate area.
Festival programming emphasized accessibility: no admission fee, a central location served by downtown transportation and parking options, and an art form that can be experienced casually while moving through public space. In addition to viewing professional works in progress, attendees could also find interactive areas intended to encourage hands-on participation, aligning the event with broader community-arts engagement rather than a gallery-only model.
Partners and city role
The event was presented under the DTOLive brand, with the City of Orlando’s Downtown Development Board involved in the downtown activation effort. United Arts of Central Florida supported the festival’s artist programming, bringing a mix of creators to participate in a format that requires specialized techniques for scale, durability, and perspective.
What visitors could expect to see
- Large-format chalk murals created directly on the plaza surface
- 3D street art designed for forced-perspective viewing and photography
- Live music programming during festival hours
- Food and refreshments available on-site
- Interactive chalk zones and family-oriented activities
Because chalk art is inherently temporary, the display is time-sensitive and subject to changing conditions, including Central Florida weather.
City officials and event organizers positioned the inaugural festival as a downtown placemaking initiative—one that uses a short-duration, visually intensive art form to animate a central public space. With its first edition now completed, future installments would be expected to depend on attendance, operational logistics, and continued partner participation.