Children's Art + Literacy Festival
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The CALF was started by the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, along with other community leaders, which realized that Abilene needed an event that would emphasize the importance our city places on families, art and literacy, as well as involve many of the great art and community organizations located in beautiful downtown Abilene.
The idea of a family friendly festival finally came to life in 2012. The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL) was sponsoring an exhibition of the original illustrations from “The Lorax.” This exhibit, along with “The Art of Dr. Seuss – A Retrospective” at the Center for Contemporary Arts and the Dr. Seuss Traveling Sculpture Garden, created a unique platform for a downtown festival.
With the help of local artists, cultural organizations, businesses and volunteers, the festival was a great success and has become an annual event each June.
Our festival has a mascot, Mini Moo the Zebu (a miniature cow), who makes an appearance at the festival. Each year, the CALF will host a new children’s book illustrator in conjunction with the NCCIL’s summer exhibition.
A portion of the proceeds from CALF benefit the HeARTS for the ARTS program.
