‘Legal Graffiti’ and street art to be celebrated by ‘thousands of visitors’ at Leicester festival

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

The award-winning festival, which will be held for the fourth time in 2017, will feature the UK’s “biggest line-up of street artists” and will feature international artists from around the world, including Canada, Australia and Brazil.

Over seven days from Monday 20 May to Sunday 26 May, 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 UK city to find arts festivals

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

The program of events to be held at the festival includes a number of “highlights”, according to BID Leicester.

• Workshops: Get involved with street art through hands-on workshops designed for all ages, including poetry workshops, zine making, spray can recycling and a street art photo walk.

• Tours: See the entire festival with a tour, hop on a guided ’90s Rave Ride, enjoy a more relaxed walking tour with opportunities to meet the artists.

• Events: Enjoy a full day of music at the LCB warehouse, including Out of Joint Records taking over for a full day of music on the Music License 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 DJ skills and Red Bull Skate Park with DJ Truck in Jubilee Square

• Exhibitions: There are several exhibitions for art lovers to visit, including Glass on Glass x Lightwerk at Phoenix Cinema, Paint to Pixel x Repainting Subway Art at Leicester Museum & Gallery and 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 information point and painting workshop

• Haymarket: general information point and workshop centre

• Jubilee Square: Red Bull Skatepark

• LCB Depot: Music License Stage

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

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