I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival

For 29 years, the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival has been held in Santa Barbara on the Memorial Day weekend. The squares for the paintings are always set up on the plaza immediately in front of the Santa Barbara Mission, which is a beautiful place to visit anytime of the year. The festival is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. On Saturday morning, many of the artists begin work on their allotted spaces. By Monday afternoon, most of them are finished.

I do not know how many years we have been attending this event. We started when my son was young and his school participated by purchasing a square and decorating it. The festival seemed fairly established at that time but it could not have been in operation too many years.

Somewhere along the way, we stopped going. The crowds are intense and often it is sunny and hot. About eight years ago when we had digital cameras to take photos with, we started attending again. It has become a tradition. We always go early Friday to see the work on the squares begin, and return on Sunday morning to see some of the completed squares. With breakfast out on both days, of course.

Here are some of our photos from the event.

The following links show some other views and provide more information:

• The main site for the festival.
• This picture of the Italian Market, set up on the grounds of the Mission, shows the festival from a bird's eye view.
• The Santa Barbara County Education Office provides more information and background.

Funk Zone

A few months ago, we were walking through the Funk Zone of Santa Barbara to take photos of the art on the walls of buildings. The art is changed every few months.

This door was one of my favorites on this visit.

Because of the detail shown in the next photo. You can click on any picture to see a larger version.

A closer look at some of the murals.

Almost all of Santa Barbara is beautiful, and offers lots of tourist attractions and scenic views. The Funk Zone is an unofficial area near to the beach that has retained its original charm. There are surf shops, a quirky surf museum, and lots of wine tasting spots. But we go for the murals.

There were three of us on this outing, so I don't know who took each photo, but all photos were processed by my husband.