Top 9 worldwide graffiti art street festivals & events.

Join now a group of urban art lovers in their journey towards the exploration of graffiti art street festivals.

This is a brief list of places and events that we wouldn’t miss:

• Bristol’s Upfest
• NuArt in Norway
• Montreal’s Mural
• Asalto, Zaragoza (Spain)
• Bloop Festival, Ibiza (Balearic Islands)
• Miau Fanzara
• Wynwood Miami
• Art Basel
• Arco Madrid

What are the most important graffiti art street events around the world?

Dozens of events have appeared in the last decade, but these are the most notorious ones in the contemporary art panorama:

1-. Upfest, Bristol (UK)

Europe’s largest art street festival celebrated in 2018 its 10th anniversary, although the organizers took a fallow year in during the 2019 edition.

We know the benefits that taking a break brings to refreshing the festival but also giving our incredible team of volunteers a rest. We are appealing to Bristol audiences to join us for the 2020 festival.

Upfest organizers

Upfest is a FREE festival with all the artists painting for free and volunteers making it happen behind the scenes.

It takes places in Bristol, UK and there are several activities organized for the whole family:

• Music
• Art sales
• Activities

2-. Nuart, Stavanger (Norway)

Nuart Festival provides an annual platform for national and international artists who operate outside of the traditional art establishment.

Who is invited to participate in this graffiti art street festival?

• artists,
• curators,
• producers,
• scholars
• public alike

The festival is neither institutional nor commercial, and it is organized by a small group of idealistic volunteers, vandals and bored arts professionals.

It consists of a series of citywide exhibitions, events, tours, performances, interventions, debates & workshops surrounding current trends and movements in street art practice.

3-. Mural art street Fest, Montreal (Canada)

Mural Fest in Montreal is the meeting place of creative minds, representing the festive and innovative soul of a booming artistic scene.

What’s their goal?

Their mission is to democratize urban art. Period.

It is celebrated throughout 11 days, and the 6 editions held have marked Montreal in the tourism circuit because of its graffiti art street.

PS. Don’t forget to visit Ricardo Cavolo’s artwork next time you are in town.

Is there any urban art street festival in Spain?

Yes, there are and they are spread all across the country, and throughout the calendar.

We wanted to mention some of them because of their great job towards the promotion of the street art and graffiti industries among the Spanish population.

4-. Asalto, Zaragoza (northern Spain)

Asalto family achieved to share spaces and experiences with local and incipient artists for the first time in 2005.

Since then, 11 editions and more than 100 international artists have colored Zaragoza’s walls and neighborhoods.

What kind of artistic developments could you observe?

• Graffiti murals,
• Digital crafts & designs,
• photography,
• stencils & stickers,
• sculpture & architecture,

We could affirm that Asalto is the oldest urban art festival celebrated in Spain.

5-. Miau Fanzara, Castellón (east coast)

The festival’s acronym stands for “museo inacabado de arte urbano” (Unfinished Museum of Urban Art).

A museum without doors or rooms, where you can enjoy what the fusion between the contemporary art street and the traditional has been able to create in this place.

Each year, new artists add their contribution to this small village (only 247 inhabitants registered to vote), making it a great tourist attraction.

MIAU is urban art but it is also an alternative way of creating community and recovering the local memory and pride; it is a powerful tool to transmit values.

Joan Feliu. UJI University of Castellón

6-. Bloop art street festival in Ibiza

Bloop represents the world’s first celebration entirely dedicated to proactive art.

Based on the ethos “art is for everybody”, the festival is entirely held for free to encourage a universal public reflection on current social issues through art, breathtaking democratic art that is comprehensible to everybody.

What about the themes that the festival has worked with since 2011?

• No fear, against social anxiety, depression, 
• Multiverse, parallel universe.
• Appearance, disparity between the container and its content.

It has also added a new trend to the traditional tourism in the white island based on its beautiful beaches, outdoor sports, and famous nightlife.

Where are the most famous contemporary art street fairs located?

You will find contemporary art street enthusiasts spread all around the world, interested in becoming collectors, or adding more artworks to their modern art collections.

For example, these are some of the international fairs worth to mention:

7-. Wynwood walls & fair, Miami (US)

It takes place at Biscayne Bay, one of the most prestigious and well known waterfront locations in the City of Miami.

Just to let you know about numbers, this modern art fair welcomed 85,000 visitors during Miami Art Week last 2018.

Art Wynwood showcases a dynamic array of works, featuring:

• emerging talent from the contemporary market,
• mid-career artists,
• blue chip contemporary, post-war and modern masters.

8-. Art Basel, original art street from Basilea (Switzerland)

Art Basel is the leading global platform connecting collectors, galleries, and artists. Home-based in Basel, it is one of the eight world-famous cultural and sports events in Switzerland.

This contemporary art fair is held internationally each year in the following locations:

• Basel, Switzerland- June 18 – 21, 2020
• Miami Beach, Florida- December 5 – 8, 2019
• Hong Kong, China- March 19 – 21, 2020

It continuously develops new initiatives that reflects the fair’s commitment to broaden the artworld.

9-. Arco, Madrid (Spain)

ARCOmadrid is Madrid’s International Contemporary Art Fair .

The fair is always celebrated in February, and attracts over 100,000 visitors each year. These are some of the activities held during the event:

• gastronomic and resting areas
• guided visits & activities
• Dialogues in cultural spaces

If you are interested in visiting Madrid alternatively, don’t forget about the following

Our opinion about the art in the street.

We are observing lately how popular is the art street or post-graffiti.

Collectors, public institutions and event organizers have used writers & artists for their industries, and we believe that the number of people interested in contemporary art will increase.

Stay tuned for more information related to street art.