Very Nearly Almost
Summer Lovin’
Summer is starting to show its face here in the UK and Europe, and to people not obsessed with football (and quite a few people who are) it only means one thing: it’s festival season.
But what if you are tired of Glastonbury (never!), Reading or Lovebox? What if you want something other than the usual rowdy music fix? Well fear not, there are plenty of graffiti and art festivals here in the UK and Europe to satisfy even the most switched on urban art lover.
FAME FESTIVAL (ITALY)
Sept 2010
At the top of team VNA’s recommendation list is Italy’s Fame Festival – set to run organically until the end of September when the official media launch will happen showing all the finished work. 2009 saw an amazing lineup (David Ellis, Blu, Vhils, Word to Mother among others) travel from all corners of the globe to paint the beautiful streets of Grottaglie in Southern Italy. Amazingly it looks like the 2010 line-up is even better than last year. Ones to watch at this year’s event are JR, Swoon, Os Gemeos (a VNA favourite for many years now), Space Invader and Dalek.
For details, directions, accommodation and more head over to www.famefestival.it
NUART (Norway)
Sept 2010
Already on the artist lineup for Norway’s Nuart festival are Blu, Vhils, Roa, Dolk, the amazing m-city and there are still more to be announced.
Held in Stavanger on the west coast of Norway at the beginning of September, Nuart has a solid history of running proper events with top artists, so this is sure to be another classic.
Be sure to check the festival program as there are talks, debates and workshops in the weeks leading up to the opening weekend and they are free to check out.
More details from www.nuart.no
MEETING OF STYLES (Global)
May – Nov 2010
Meeting of Styles has been rocking graffiti-based events throughout the UK, Europe and the States since 1997. I was at last year’s event in London and was blown away by the skills on show and the variety of styles. 2010 MoS events are planned for Malaysia, Peru, Italy, Serbia, Brazil, Switzerland, USA, Poland, the UK and many other countries.
London’s event is penned for 20-21 August with location and details TBC.
Keep an eye on the Meeting of Styles site for more info.
LA GRANDE SCHMIERAGE (Germany)
JUN 2010
Another graffiti festival worth checking out over the summer is La Grande Schmierage happening over in Ingolstadt, Germany. The Germans are renowned for their graffiti heritage and this seems to be one of the festivals that is stepping up to showcase some of that talent along with other artists from all over Europe.
More here www.la-grande-schmierage.de
WRITE4GOLD (Global)
Last year, London’s RT crew took the title of 2009 Write4Gold champions. Who is next to step up to the top spot?
With heats held locally all around the world and then a European final event, this is more of a festival series than a one-off event. Dates and details of Write4Gold 2010 are yet to be released… fingers crossed it will be going down again later 2010 or early 2011.
Out of South Presents ‘Breakin the Wall’ (Poland)
Until end of June 2010
Combining various scattered stages around the Polish city of Wroclaw this festival aims to showcase alternative contemporary art. ‘Breakin the Wall’ is the main street art segment of the festival which sees invited artists such as Sickboy, Escif and more painting murals at various city locations. If the artwork from last year’s event is anything to go by, this festival is well worth a look.
www.outofsth.org/en/breakin-the-wall/
Upfest (Bristol)
JUN 2010
Upfest 2010 went down on the first weekend of June and looked to be an amazing event with a mega lineup of artists covering all facets of street art and graffiti culture. Bristol never fails to bring the goods on the art front and I for one am disappointed that I missed this event. Let’s hope the organizers throw an even bigger and better event in 2011!
And all those who still want a healthy dose of music with a side of art still ought to check out the various music festivals kicking around this summer. Most of them seem to be picking up that art is an important part of the festival experience and are commissioning work all over place. Bestival, Streetfest and HUB Festival all have a decent amount of live art happening but I would keep an eye out for the Mutate Britain area at this year’s Glastonbury. If it’s anything like their crazy shows here in London this will be another one not to miss!
This is just a small selection of events that are being run all round the world at the moment. I haven’t even gone into Art Basel or the big art festivals that are now seeing the value of so-called ‘lo-brow’ art, street art and graffiti culture.
Whatever the style of festival, it’s good to see people backing the street art and graffiti movement and applying the festival formula to it. What it does well is bring something awesome to the masses – and that’s really what we’re all about over at VNA.
