Street art festival set to return to South Bristol

A street art festival is to return to Bristol this summer after it was cancelled last year.

Organisers of Upfest, which takes place in the south of the city, said the event did not take place last year due to rising costs.

This year, backed by Arts Council England, it is back for a two-week run rather than two days.

Festival co-founder Steve Hayles said it represented a “new incarnation” for the festival this year.

He 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.”

The festival was started by a handful of artists painting together in a yard more than 15 years ago.

Running from 18 May to 2 June, artists are being invited to paint large scale murals on buildings throughout Bedminster and the wider BS3 area.

Artists have until 25 February to register their interest in painting the walls of Bedminster.

This year’s itinerary also includes free to attend workshops, artist talks, theatre and comedy.