Outdoor chalk art may be impermanent, but the organizers of last year’s Chalk Festival still remember the vivid colors that graced the sidewalks of Onset.

“It was beautiful,” said Linda Hannon, Onset Bay Association treasurer. “The sun was sparkling, and it was very low-key, very relaxed.”

Chalk Festival organizer Milly Burrows said she hopes for sunny skies again this year, and anticipates a good turnout for the Aug. 22 festival, in which anyone can participate. She said there are about 200 squares of pavement, every last one of which she would love to see filled with art this year. The price for a square and pastel chalk is $5 for artists who wish to participate; kids who want to join in can get a quarter square and playground chalk for $2.

Burrows first came up with the idea for the community art festival a few years ago, after a visit to the Street Painting Festival in Lake Worth, Florida.

“It was impressive to see, and a fun thing to visit … the seed was planted,” Burrows said. “Onset historically is home to a number of artists, so it just felt like a nice location for that.”

Burrows said she had a lot of help setting up last year’s inaugural festival from late Boston-based street painting artist Robert Guillemin, known as Sidewalk Sam. Guilleman created a wide body of work in his lifetime, but his later work centered around nonviolence, and community empowerment. Burrows said there will be a special memorial square for Guillemin at the festival.

“[There will be] a very simple drawing of a peace dove with a banner that says, ‘Stop Violence Create Peace’,” Burrows said. “We are going to … invite the public to write their own messages of peace on it.”

Burrows said the festival is very community-oriented, and there will be four different categories in which participating artists can win prizes, which will be donated by local businesses. It's this focus on community that stopped the festival organizers from taking on food vendors.

“We had requests from food vendors, asking if they could buy a space, but we refrained from that,” Burrows said. “It’s the kind of event you can leave and come back throughout the day, and we want for visitors to go to restaurants in the area.”

There will, however, be craft vendor stalls set up around the perimeter, as well as live entertainment and face painting throughout the day. Burrows said she does not anticipate much money from the event, but that the festival organizers will use every last dime from any proceeds to plan for next year’s festival.

“My hope is that, when we have our fifth year anniversary, we can bring 3D artists to the pavement,” Burrows said.

The festival will be bringing back Kerry St. Pierre, last year’s featured street painting artist. St. Pierre has taken home several awards for her street art since she began entering competitions in 2001.

The festival was deliberately scheduled to coincide with Illumination Night, a traditional end-of-summer evening celebration in Onset. Burrows said she hopes the festival will encourage more people to stick around for the evening ceremony, but above all, she is looking forward to seeing “the involvement of family.”

“The pleasure was seeing families come, and seeing how delighted they were to take part in it,” Burrows said.

The Chalk Festival will take place Aug. 22 on the walkways around the Onset Bandshell, with a rain date of Aug. 23. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., followed by Illumination Night at 9 p.m. Both events are free to attend.