PASADENA, Calif., May 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Paseo, an open-air lifestyle shopping center in downtown Pasadena (www.thepaseopasadena.com), together with Light Bringer Project, a non-profit Pasadena-based arts organization (www.lightbringerproject.org), will host the 26th annual Pasadena Chalk Festival on Father's Day weekend, June 16th and 17th. Sponsored by Otter Pops, the West Coast's most beloved ice pop, the 2018 event celebrating the history and impact of the centuries-old artistry of street painting will feature the spectacular work of nearly 600 dedicated and talented chalk artists. Holding the 2010 Guinness World Record as the largest public art event of its kind, this year's festival is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors as artists use more than 25,000 sticks of pastel chalk to create hundreds of life-sized murals. Proceeds from art gallery sales and a silent auction held during the free-to-the-public event will benefit Light Bringer Project's art and educational programs for underserved youth in the greater Pasadena and Los Angeles areas. Blick Art Materials will provide pastel chalk for the artists to use to create their murals at the festival as well as new, unpainted 12" x 12" canvases artists can use to create paintings for the art gallery and silent auction. A brand-new attraction this year includes a solar system mural to be created by scientists from Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).