Upfest Presents launches plans for 2024

This year, Upfest Presents...an 18 day cultural programme, supported by Arts Council England from 18 May - 2 June.

In place of its weekend festival, Upfest will return in 2024 in a new guise, with many new artworks being painted across two weeks. Upfest Presents will pop-up at multiple venues across Bedminster and wider BS3 with free to attend workshops, live painting, artist talks, arts activities, panel discussions, theatre, comedy and tours exploring the area. 

Artists will be invited to paint large scale murals on buildings throughout the area, with a schedule available for visitors to pop by and see their progress. They will also take part in mini paint-jams, talks and panel discussions about their work and visitors and artists alike will be invited to curated events at venues in Bedminster and beyond. 

With over 100 artist spots, registrations are now open to attend and paint the walls of Bedminster, mentor, showcase artwork, live paint and collaborate with other artists throughout the event. Applications will be taken until Sunday the 25 Feb via Upfest website.

The Upfest Presents crowdfunder is up and running with the aim to raise £10,000 to support all the activities. The more money raised, the more events, murals and activities for all the family will be created as part of the programme. Visit Fundsurfer to donate.

Festival co-founder Stephen Hayles explains; "Upfest Presents... represents a new incarnation for the festival this year, more focussed on programming the mural creation with a huge spectrum of other activities across a 2 week period. This means we won't have a festival in the park but means we can spread the joy of Upfest across 17 days including 3 weekends. There will be tons for artists, art lovers and families to get involved in, while you can pop down and see murals being created throughout the whole period. Huge thanks to Arts Council England for giving us the opportunity to create the event this year and we're looking forward to supporting local artists as well as welcoming artists from all over the world to Bristol."

For more information visit Upfest website or follow Upfest on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter