Upfest Newsletter
Upfest - The Urban Paint Festival, created in 2008 between three crazy but art loving individuals. Inspired by Super Cans (Southampton), Cans Festival (London) and the growing number of paint jams around the UK, Upfest was born.
Upfest was originally conceived to get a group of 20 like minded artists together for a day of painting here in Bristol, however the first festival quickly grew to 50 artists once the word was out. It also help that one of the organiser had just been made redundant for the second time in 8 months and had too much time on his hands, after securing (through a few white lies) a fantastic Bristol venue, the Tobacco Factory, the first Upfest took place in October 2008.
2009 saw Upfest quickly return for the first weekend in June, which has become the annual date in Upfest diary for the festival, this festival took a huge leap to 150 artists painting over seven venues around Bristol. '09 also saw Upfest curate it's first group shows and went down the road to London and took over the Muse Gallery in Portobello for Urban Riddle and Urban Scrawl. Somewhere in the middle of this we had the wacky idea of attending the ideal home show and grand designs, we're unlikely to do that again but that's another story.
The summer of '09 introduced Upfest to Upfest on tour, this is now becoming an integral part to the Upfest calender but in our first year we ventured to Nass sports festival and Boardmasters surf festival, each time gathering the troops of ten to fifteen artists and putting their skillz on display. Thanks to builder dude and his merry men we built a church at Nass festival and beach huts at Boardmasters, these were then impressively painted throughout the few days at the festivals.
The winter of '09 was a bit of a blur, setting up a temporary home at the Wilder Gallery in St Pauls, plans were put in place for Upfest to put it's name on the map with Upfest'10.
Over the last three festivals Upfest has worked with a local charity called Nacoa, this amazing charity support many children across the UK, who live with alcohol or drug dependant family members. We would like to thank all the artists that attend for helping us raise over £15,000 so far for Nacoa and just as important, raise awareness of the vital work they do. Lastly, Upfest would not in anyway be possible without all the volunteers that muck in to get Upfest ready and supervise the weekend, you know who you are and your all legends.
Here's to Upfest'15 and making it the best year yet!
Latest News from the world of Upfest
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Upfest teams up with Ashton Gate Stadium to create the largest festival zone
This year, Upfest is teaming up with Ashton Gate to bring more than 100 artists to the stadium, creating a brand new area for the festival and the largest collection of live painting at the event.
Upfest partners with Aardman & Launches Crowdfunding Campaign
To celebrate Morph’s 40th birthday, the team at Aardman has partnered up with Europe’s largest live street and urban art festival, Upfest to create an official portrait of the much-loved character.
Upfest Announce 2017 Artist-Line-Up
Upfest 2017 promises to be the brightest and best yet as the world renowned festival returns to South Bristol with a jam-packed line-up of artistic talent from across the globe.
Do you have a specific art requirement, whether for your home or business? Call gallery owners Stephen & Emma on 07725231878 to make an appointment for an art consultation. We are happy to undertake home or business visits to assess your requirements.