Mural Festival celebrates creativity and art form, which still keeps the world alive.
Murals are large-size arts form painted over the walls. Regular street walls can be transformed into a colourful canvas. The community walls, which either go unnoticed or are made dirty, can be made attractive through murals. Either professional muralists can create the murals, or they can also be created by someone passionate about arts and painting.
The mural art created is believed to increase the tourism of the place, and even people enjoy and find it fun to treasure the murals.
Some murals are even created to spread awareness about certain topics and can be used as a source of advertisement.
The festivals place no barriers on talent and the creators. Mural Festivals are one such event which gives a platform to bring in together local and international artists to paint the town all over. New budding creators can even learn from these events.
Below is a list of some popular Mural festivals which take place in the country of Canada.
1. Vancouver Mural festival
Vancouver mural festival is a non-profit organization which works to connect people and the art and to build a society which respects and values talent and the creators.
Starting in the year 2016, VMF has done dedicated work towards transforming a basic street festival into a world-class multimedia art consultancy and production agency. VMF produces Vancouver Mural Festival and also sponsors VMF Winter Arts.
To date, VMF has created over 300 murals and continues to redefine the definition of art and its effects on society.
This year Vancouver Mural Festival will take place in the city of Vancouver from August 4-14, 2022. VMF is an 11-day part featuring 150+ visual and performing artists.
Public art has been the biggest and the grandest exhibit of VMF to date. Recently, VMF partnered with Nicole Wealth and The Narrow Group to give the iconic motel in the city centres a stunning makeover. This was done to create awareness of art and recognize the artists. The motel will be a hub for live events of the summer festival. The place will be home to over 75 artists.
If you want to participate in VMF, sign in as a volunteer or a tour guide by downloading the location map.
Address- 2410 Colombia St. Vancouver, BC
2. Montreal Mural Festival
From June 9-19, the streets of Montreal city will see the city’s various locations come to life. The 10th edition of the Montreal Mural Festival will feature all the local and international artists.
It started in 2013 when Benoit started with the simple goal of building a legacy of street art in the city of Montreal. Till 2020 and 2021, the festival was displayed in smaller versions, but this time, it comes with many tough challenges. The art of murals was already a movement that was expanding before they even started.
The festival also features music to keep the visitors engaged while they check out their old streets. It brings in some famous performers like DJ A-Track, and Chromeo’s Dave and others will be present to make it a night to remember. The event of a musical rendezvous will feature many music performers who will play some soulful music while you appreciate the public art created by the artists.
Once the festival is winded up, visitors are going to discover nearly 20 murals in and around the street. The festival is planned for 10-day events, the details of which can be downloaded from the website.
Something new was done in the 9th edition of the festival. Performers were allowed to showcase their murals digitally; all it required was a VR set, a trustable internet connection and hell loads of imagination. The murals are painted in front of the excited audience and displayed over the walls of abandoned streets. The change this technology has bought over, and the doors of opportunities it has opened are appreciated by nations all over.
3. East-West Mural Fest
The East-West Mural Festival takes place in the town of Esquimalt and Vic West. This year the festival is in August from August 15-28.
Take a fun walk or cycle through the lanes of Esquimalt and discover some amazing murals around this town of Canada. Download the map and explore the events on your own.
You can visit and explore the murals at 533 Admirals Store, 859 Devonshire Road, 900 Carlton Terrace.
The ECAH boosts the local creators over the international artists. If the creator has any relation with the town of Esquimalt, they can mention it in their application, which will surely help them.
If you live in the township of Esquimalt or Vic West and wish to get your wall painted, fill up an application on their website, and you are good to go. This way, you also can support the existence of artists and their murals.
The ECAH supports only self-funding projects and sometimes community-funded applications. In such cases, they try to arrange grant funding for some portion of the wall.
Based on your likes and interests, which you will be filling out on your application, you will be teamed up with 2-3 artists which provide your genre. You can choose the artist, but the freedom of choosing the design lies with the creator. Finally, you can select your favourite artist, and a public art mural will be created.
In Mural festivals, you can see the celebration of artwork and its creators. Stay tuned to the updates of these programs by signing in to their newsletter, and you will receive the required data in your mailbox.
The newsletter in the mailbox will not only keep you updated about the details of the occasion but will also tune you with the happenings of the art world and how you can make a difference.
Visiting the Mural festivals should be on the bucket list for each year. Take your friends and family to all the events over the days, and you will not regret attending the festival.
