Beautiful Bristol: Upfest 2018
So last weekend saw the return of Upfest, Europe’s largest street art and graffiti festival, and yet another reason why Bristol is one of the best cities to spend a summer in.
Upfest, in its 10th year, attracts over 400 artists from around the world to paint venues across Bedminster and Southville.
In between torrential rain showers interspersed with sunny heatwaves I wandered around, phone in hand, to check out the latest #BristolGraff. Here are some of my fave pieces.
This year’s pièce de résistance is the #bemorelisa piece by Nomad Clan. This piece on the side of the Tobacco Factory replaced last years’ John Lennon by Kobra which I really loved. While I admit that I was sad to see John go, in 2018 could there be a more perfect message than ‘Be more Lisa’? Hopefully, it will inspire a whole generation of badass girls (and boys).
This years’ Upfest had a Simpsons theme, in fact Matt Groening himself selected three Upfest artists to bring his creations to life in their own unique styles.
Love this adorable mosaic from Angus Art, points if you get the Banksy connection. 😉
Lucas Antics is one of my fave Bristol-based street artists. I love spotting her colourful, personality filled murals all over the city. I even tried to talk my boss into commissioning her to paint our boardroom – alas he said no. Bunnies are a bit of a signature of hers.
This piece by Jody is actually from last year,. A few of Jody’s pieces have been popping up around Bristol, including a beautiful one on the side of The Florist.
A gorgeous collaboration between Inkie and cheba on a bright day the gold lettering glows and the swirling galaxy stands out beautifully.
One of the great things about Upfest is how close you can get to the artists while they’re working, it’s so inspiring seeing their amazing skills close up.
I loved this diving helmet piece by The Hass, as a cool Simpsons reference the artist included some of the three eyed fish from the show.
An oldie but a goodie, above the official Upfest shop.
This mural next to The Tobacco Factory is by The London Police and it’s absolutely enormous. It was impressive just to see how the artists coped with the elements this weekend, there was torrential rain most of the time as well as strong winds which must have played havoc with the spray paint.
I loved this! I totally agree although as a bit of a maximalist I can’t deny that I’m pretty fond of things too! ?
I love the colours in this piece and I can’t wait to pop down and see what it looks like finished.
Upfest is one of the many reasons that Bristol comes alive in the summer, if you love colour, community and creativity then it’s definitely a festival and city to put on your bucket list!
Did you go to Upfest this year? Which were your favourite pieces? Let me know in the comments. 🙂
Love, Sarah x