75 south Bristol walls will be transformed over 75 days.
With more festivals and events in Bristol starting to announce 2021 plans, such as Bristol Pride, the city’s famous street art festival has also joined in by confirming their return this year. Upfest will be coming back to Bedminster and artists will be brightening the south Bristol area with new and eye-catching murals, plus you can enjoy them anytime over the coming weeks.
Starting from May 15, the organisers of Upfest, alongside some talented street artists, intend to paint 75 walls in the area over the course of 75 days in the lead up to the festival, which will take place in Greville Smyth Park on August 28 and 29. Upfest will be supported by POSCA, as well as Arts Council England and Bedminster BID, and see hundreds of artists paint live over the bank holiday.
This year’s return is a triumphant one for the arts and culture festival, which took place online in 2020, in a virtual Tron-like world created by Montpelier-based augmented reality studio, Zubr. This announcement of 2021’s festival and the creation of 75 murals follows after six murals on North Street became the largest street art project in the UK designed and painted by female street artists, with two new murals being completed this spring by Bristol artists, Lucas Antics and Ejit.
For the duration of 2021’s Upfest, artist and illustrator Will Barras will take the title of festival artist, painting on the side of one of Bedminster’s newest additions, The Pony North Street. You can find more information on which artists will feature in this year’s Upfest here.