BOUNTIFUL — It’s like an art party that stretches up and down Main Street, filling the sidewalks with a rainbow of beauty.

The Main Street Chalk Art Festival will be coming back to Bountiful May 12-15, with both professional and amateur artists of all ages turning cement squares all up and down Main Street into works of art.

“We’ve got more artists this year than ever before,” said Jane Joy, the head of the Joy Foundation. The group organizes the chalk festival every year. “Main Street is going to be pretty full.”

Residents are welcome to walk through the impromptu gallery throughout the entire festival, peering over the artists’ shoulders as they watch the art form through every stage of its development.

This year, more of the artists are being encouraged to bring short bios in waterproof covers so that the public can know more about the artist creating each work.

“The interest from the community is growing,” said Joy. “They love that they can stroll down Main Street and look at all the art being created.”

The featured artist for this year’s festival is Theresa Otteson, a local professional artist who’s had a long history with the chalk festival.

“She’s been supportive every single year,” said Joy. “We want to reward her by giving people the chance to see her wonderful stuff.”

Other professional artists include Aaron Bushnell, who will also be returning to the festival, and several other Davis County artists.

Local elementary schools have also expressed more interest in the festival, a combination that Joy sees as working together beautifully.

“It will be great for the students to work among these professional artists,” she said. “The whole point of this is to let kids see the possibilities.”

Artists of all ages will start gathering on Main Street to begin their art at 10 a.m. on May 12, when the festival officially starts. Artists need to be registered in advance to participate, and joy reminds everyone to make sure and check in before they start drawing to help things stay organized.

Judging is set to begin May 14 at 6 p.m., with an awards ceremony scheduled for May 15 at 11 a.m. Of course, all of this depends on whether or not the weather is willing to be agreeable.

“We’re prepared to slide it a day or two in case of rain,” said Joy. “But we’re also crossing our fingers.”

Festival organizers are also keeping those fingers crossed for other reasons. Like everyone else the festival is suffering from the down economy, and some of their usual sponsors didn’t come forward this year. Currently, the festival is operating at a loss, and though organizers welcome any interested sponsors even smaller assistance would be welcome.

“We’re happy with any level of donations,” said Joy. “It all helps.”

No matter what, though, she said that the foundation is committed to keeping the festival going. “It’s our gift to the community.”