City of Colours, Street Art Festival, Birmingham 2016

Torrential downpours and flooding of recent days finally abated for the start of ‘City of Colours 2016’ Street Art Festival in Digbeth… the heart of UK’s Second City.

This year was more highly anticipated than ever given last year’s cancellation due to lack of funding, and new transportation and shopping offerings in the city, with the continued redevelopment and regeneration of recent years.

As the clouds parted ways in Birmingham and the sun shining strong, this family-friendly event saw over 120 artists primarily from the UK, but some from as far a field as New York, all painting live.

It was a great opportunity to see the artists at work, doing what they do, transforming old, inner city walls, into one of the largest free outdoor gallery spaces in the UK. There was a great atmosphere for and plenty more to see and do, including a large market stall, b-boy battles, several music stages, various workshops, street performances and of course various culinary delights courtesy of Digbeth Dining.

The highlight for me was the piece by Phlegm tucked away on Coventry Street, which really captured his surreal, dream-like narrative. I also liked the smaller wall by Jimmy C, which perfectly demonstrated his vibrant pointillist style.

A great day out for all, the festival ends officially on 20th June, and I certainly hope it continues from strength to strength in 2017.

 

Photos and Blog written for GraffitiStreet by our friend Nawaz Mohamed… confirmed lover of street art from the heart of England.

Comments

comments

Calling all Street Art fans

If you are holding a street art festival please get in touch with us as Graffitistreet would love to cover your event and share it with our readers.

Street artists, please drop us a line to share your latest murals and the inspiration behind them; GraffitiStreet want to know about the thoughts and ideas that breathe life into your pieces!

Or, if you are a lover of all things street art and would like to write a guest Blog post for GraffitiStreet, get in contact too! We would love to hear from you and what you have got to say.

All words and photos used must be the author’s own or the author has gained permission from the source and clearly credits the source blog. Author takes full responsibility for copyright.

Share your comments