Europe’s largest street art festival returns

Bedminster and south Bristol will explode into a riot of colour and creativity over the weekend of July 25-27 as the eighth edition of Upfest takes to the streets.

Upfest is the biggest free street art festival in Europe and is getting bigger and better each year. We grabbed founder and organiser Steve Hayles for a chat about the festival.

What inspired Upfest?
Every weekend for the past 30 years, individuals and collectives have spent their last few pounds on a few cans of spray paint. Over the last 15 years or so years gatherings of these individuals have been known as paint jams, often attended by like-minded painters and friends. Eight years ago after attending a few of these jams around the country a few of us decided to organise our own. 10 invited friends turned into 50 which eight years later is 275! 

How is Upfest funded?
We get asked this question quite often. It’s normally met with a bit of a snigger, and the genuine answer is a lot of hard work and passion. Organising a large free event that receives limited public funding means you’re relying on those who benefit to give something back in order for the event to continue. We are really lucky that a number of local businesses appreciate what Upfest brings to the area. There are also many successful artists that continue to support what we do.  

What was the response like to the crowdfunding campaign?
WHOOP WHOOP BOOM BOOM! The Kickstarter crowdfunding saved our bacon. The festival would have just been able to go ahead without it, but we are now able to enhance it making the experience far better for artists and visitors alike. Hitting target was an awesome feeling. It not only gave us the funding we needed, it also meant a lot that after eight years, people still appreciate what we are doing.

Upfest is a huge street art event in the UK, how many international artists can we expect to see this year?
Upfest is the largest street art and graffiti festival in Europe and possibly worldwide. Following registration, Upfest offered places to 100 international artists representing 25 countries. We think the furthest travellers this year are from South American countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. We’re also excited to be welcoming artists for the first time from Russia, Georgia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as our continuing to attract artists from across Europe and the USA.

Who should we look out for and why?
We’re stoked to have some exceptional talent coming to the festival this year, we especially appreciate those travelling half way around the world, google some of these names and be amazed! L7M, Lonac, Martin Ron, PichiAvo, Telmo Meil, Guy Denning and Yash. The talent keeps on coming from UK artists including My Dog Sighs, Inkie, Dale VN Marshall, Snub23, Otto Schade, Rob Wass, Cosmo Sarson and Dan Kitchener. Having so many high calibre artists at one event really makes Upfest special. From closer to home, the likes of Andy Council, Cheo, Voyder, Jody, Sepr and Soker are just a few of the must see Bristol artists at this year’s festival.    

What else is happening during the festival?
In addition to 275 artists painting live across the weekend and an awesome lineup of music, there will also be graffiti workshops run by Miss C’s graffiti academy – always a hit for youngsters and big kids alike! With so many artists in town you’ll also be able to buy pieces of their work at one of our three art fair areas. Purchasing from the festival supports the travelling artists and contributes to the festival running costs. The festival has also become more and more family-orientated over the years. A catalyst of this in 2015 has been the arrival of our amazing daughter. Monday the 27th is public viewing day plus a plethora of children’s workshops run by a variety of artists. This just happens to concide with the summer holidays.

Which local artists are you most excited to be working with?
Upfest continues to champion local talent, with a third of the artists attending coming from the Bristol region. Many of these artist are of a similar calibre to the international artists coming from across the globe, Bristol has always been a breeding ground for creative talent it would be difficult for us to pick out just a few.

Why did you choose NACOA to be the Upfest charity of choice and how much has Upfest raised for them in the past?
I’ve personally supported NACOA (National Association for Children of Alcoholics) around ten years now, after finding out about the incredible work the charity undertakes. I was taken aback by the selflessness of the volunteers who sometime take very distressing phone calls from youngsters affected by family members drinking leading to abuse. My involvement started by organising a few karaoke Stars in Their Eyes nights raising a few hundred pounds for them. The relationship with the charity has grown over many years and the total raised through Upfest now exceeds £25,000.

And finally, are you and Emma (co-organiser) any good at street art?
Nowhere close to the quality of artists we work with, although we are very good at priming boards grey!

For more information about Upfest 2015, visit www.upfest.co.uk/page/upfest-festival.