'Legal graffiti' and street art to be celebrated by 'thousands of visitors' to Leicester festival

A street art festival that will see “thousands of visitors” visit Leicester is set to return next week. Bring The Paint festival will see the creation of more than 30 permanent street murals across the city, Business Improvement District (BID) Leicester said.

The award-winning festival, being held for the fourth time since 2017, will see the UK’s “largest lineup of street artists” as well as showcasing international artists from all over the world, including Canada, Australia and Brazil.

Over seven days from Monday, May 20 to Sunday, May 26, as well as live art there will be workshops, events, tours, skateboarding and BMX riding. BID Leicester said the city has a “growing reputation” for “eye-catching street art murals”.

READ MORE: Leicester beats London for best city in the UK to find art festivals

Organisers say for those keen to get involved in creating street art themselves, several legal graffiti sites across the city can be used by anyone to paint, including walls along the canal, St. Margaret’s Underpass, Friday Street and more. Graffiti on any other surface than these sites is illegal and could result in prosecution, it added.

The programme of events that will be held at the festival include a number of “highlights”, according to BID Leicester.

• Workshops: Engage with street art through hands-on workshops designed for all ages, including poetry workshops, zine making, upcycling spray cans and a street art photo walk.

• Tours: Take in the whole festival with a tour, hop on to a guided bicycle ‘90s Rave Ride’, enjoy a more sedate walking tour with opportunities to meet the artists.

• Events: Enjoy a full day of music at the LCB depot, including Out of Joint Records takeover for a full day of music on the Music Licence stage, an acoustic stage, sound system and more.

• Family-friendly activities: Lots of fun for all the family, including a family fun day at The Mill, spray painting, face painting, and Pedestrian’s DJ skills drop in, and the Red Bull Skate Park with DJ Truck on Jubilee Square

• Exhibitions: There are several exhibitions for art lovers to pop along to, including Glass on Glass x Lightwerk at Phoenix Cinema, Paint to Pixel x Repainting Subway Art at Leicester Museum & Gallery, and lots more.

There will be four main festival sites where you can pick up a map and explore the festival. These are:

• The Mill by Graffwerk (Frog Island): General info point and paint shop

• Haymarket: General info point and workshop hub

• Jubilee Square: Red Bull Skatepark

• LCB Depot: The Music Licence Stage

Leicester City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “Leicester hosted the first Bring the Paint event in 2017, and the amazing results of that can still be seen in the city centre today. I’m delighted that the city council is sponsoring Graffwerk to bring the event here once again this May and look forward to welcoming world-class street artists from around the globe to our city.”

We are now bringing you the latest updates on WhatsApp first