Dados Punto Cero Reimagines the Smurf and Mr. Potato Head in 3D Murals for Festival Les Petits Bonheurs, France
Festival Les Petits Bonheurs 2026 embraces joy, creativity, and collective imagination through a playful art festival designed to bring contemporary street art into everyday life. Set in Auchel, France, this new edition places children, residents, and public space at the heart of artistic creation.
As part of the 2026 program, the festival invited internationally recognised street artist Dados Punto Cero to create two large-scale murals in collaboration with local school children and neighbourhood residents. The result is a pair of vibrant public artworks that transform architecture into a shared visual story, one rooted in care, play, and collective memory.
The Smurf holds a book in this mural by Dados Punto Cero, a subtle symbol of learning and protection imagined with children for Festival Les Petits Bonheurs 2026. Image courtesy of Patrice Leroy, Festival Les Petits Bonheurs.
Dados Punto Cero and the Power of Playful Public Art
Known for his distinctive visual language blending humour, tenderness, and symbolism, Dados Punto Cero approached the project through a deeply participatory process. Working closely with children from a local school in Auchel, the artist invited them to imagine characters that could protect, guide, and look after them.
These imaginative conversations became the foundation for the murals. Oversized, expressive, and immediately approachable, the characters stand as playful protectors, watchful yet gentle presences embedded directly into the community.
A delicate flower grows beside the Smurf in this hyper-realistic mural by Dados Punto Cero, symbolising childhood, care, and growth at Festival Les Petits Bonheurs 2026 in Auchel. Image courtesy of Patrice Leroy, Festival Les Petits Bonheurs.
Two Iconic Characters Reimagined as Guardians of Joy
For Festival Les Petits Bonheurs 2026, artist Dados Punto Cero painted two universally recognisable figures from popular culture, the Smurf and Mr. Potato Head reimagining them through the lens of childhood imagination.
Rather than simple homage, these murals transform familiar characters into protective figures, conceived with children and shaped by the voices of the Auchel community.
Close-up detail reveals the extraordinary 3D illusion achieved by Dados Punto Cero, where light, shadow, and texture give the Smurf a sculptural presence on a flat wall in Auchel. Image courtesy of Patrice Leroy, Festival Les Petits Bonheurs.
The Smurf: Learning, Care, and Growth
The first mural revisits the iconic Smurf, instantly recognisable by his blue skin, white clothing, and gentle expression. Here, however, the character is no longer part of a fictional village, he has stepped into the real world of Auchel.
Holding a book and carefully tending to a plant, the Smurf becomes a symbol of learning, curiosity, and responsibility. Designed in collaboration with local schoolchildren, the growing plant beside him echoes the importance of nurture, standing as a metaphor for childhood, education, and the slow process of becoming.
Detail of the Smurf mural by Dados Punto Cero: a fragile flower symbolising growth, care, and childhood imagination, rendered with striking trompe-l’œil realism.
Mr. Potato Head: Play, Improvisation, and Community Spirit
The second mural features a monumental reinterpretation of Mr. Potato Head, the iconic toy composed of interchangeable parts. With his exaggerated eyes, rounded body, bowler hat, and expressive face, the character appears animated and welcoming. The very nature of Mr. Potato Head, modular, humorous, endlessly reconfigurable, makes him a perfect symbol for collective creativity.
In Dados Punto Cero’s mural, Mr. Potato Head embodies humour as a shared language, reminding viewers that identity, like community, is something we build together.
A monumental 3D mural by street artist Dados Punto Cero transforms Mr. Potato Head into a playful guardian watching over Auchel, created with children and residents for Festival Les Petits Bonheurs 2026. Image courtesy of Patrice Leroy, Festival Les Petits Bonheurs.
Illusion, Volume, and the Art of Making Walls Come Alive
Beyond their playful imagery, the two murals created by Dados Punto Cero stand out for their remarkable technical precision. Painted directly onto flat architectural surfaces, both the Smurf and Mr. Potato Head appear strikingly three-dimensional, almost sculptural in presence.
Through meticulous control of perspective, light, and shadow, the artist transforms walls into stages where characters seem to step forward into real space. Rounded forms, glossy highlights, and carefully rendered textures create a convincing illusion of volume, giving the impression that these figures could be touched, moved, or even interacted with. The murals hover between painting and object, between image and presence.
This mastery of trompe-l’œil reinforces the narrative intention of the works as companions. Their physicality makes them feel closer, more real, more protective and precisely as the children imagined them.
Reimagined by Dados Punto Cero, the Smurf becomes a caring, three-dimensional figure rooted in education and imagination, painted with local schoolchildren for Festival Les Petits Bonheurs 2026 in Auchel. Image courtesy of Patrice Leroy, Festival Les Petits Bonheurs.
Festival Les Petits Bonheurs 2026: Art as Joy, Art as Care
With its playful art festival theme, Festival Les Petits Bonheurs 2026 reaffirms the importance of joy, creativity, and participation in public space. These murals demonstrate that street art can be both light-hearted and meaningful, playful and profound.
Children and residents gather in front of Dados Punto Cero’s Mr. Potato Head mural in Auchel, celebrating a collective street art project created together for Festival Les Petits Bonheurs 2026. Image courtesy of Patrice Leroy, Festival Les Petits Bonheurs.
In Auchel, small ideas became large-scale artworks. Through imagination, collaboration, and trust in the voices of children, Festival Les Petits Bonheurs reminds us that public art brings fun one mural at a time.
Image courtesy of Patrice Leroy, Festival Les Petits Bonheurs