Swindon & Wiltshire News
Street art festival Upfest unveils plans for 2024
Bristol street art festival Upfest has announced its plans for 2024 – a 17-day cultural programme which will replace the traditional weekend paint jam.
Two hundred new pieces – ranging from giant murals to smaller works – will be created by some of the world’s best graffiti artists over three weekends between May 17 and June 2.
Upfest Presents will pop up at multiple venues across Bedminster and wider BS3 with free to attend workshops, live painting, artist talks, arts activities, panel discussions, theatre, comedy and tours exploring the area.
Festival co-founder Stephen Hayles said: “Upfest Presents represents a new incarnation for the festival this year, more focussed on programming the mural creation with a huge spectrum of other activities across a two-week period.
“This means we won’t have a festival in the park, but means we can spread the joy of Upfest across 17 days including three weekends.
“There will be tons for artists, art lovers and families to get involved in, while you can pop down and see murals being created throughout the whole period.
“Huge thanks to Arts Council England for giving us the opportunity to create the event this year and we’re looking forward to supporting local artists as well as welcoming artists from all over the world to Bristol.”
Upfest began in 2008 as a paint jam attracting 20 local artists. At its height, hundreds of artists were involved in creating building-sized murals in a festival that attracted thousands of visitors.
The planned 2023 festival was cancelled due to rising costs. Festival organisers hope to use crowd-funding to raise £10,000 to support this year’s event https://www.fundsurfer.com/crowdfund/make-upfest24-happen
Read more: Swindon – unlikely mural mecca? Swindon Paint Fest
