UK Street Art Festivals: Upfest, Weston Wallz, Nuart and More

What is Upfest?

Upfest is a street art festival in Bristol, founded in 2008 by Stephen Hayles, a printer and gallery owner, with local artists. It began as a weekend at the Tobacco Factory in Southville and grew to fill the streets of Bedminster and Southville in south Bristol. At its peak in 2015, 250 artists from 25 countries painted about 30,000 square feet of walls over three days. It was set up as a not-for-profit to raise money for NACOA, the National Association for Children of Alcoholics.

Upfest now alternates its main festival with fallow or smaller years. After a fallow year in 2025, it returned from 15 to 31 May 2026 as a 17-day festival, free to attend, with the Bristol muralist Esme Lower, known as Melo, as festival artist. More than 100 new artworks were painted across Bedminster and Southville. Check upfest.co.uk for future dates.

What is Weston Wallz?

Weston Wallz is Upfest's sister festival in Weston-super-Mare, the seaside town that hosted Banksy's Dismaland in 2015. Upfest has curated it since 2021, and it runs for about a week each July, adding new murals around the town.

What is Nuart Aberdeen?

Nuart began in Stavanger, Norway, and Nuart Aberdeen has run in the Scottish city since 2017. It brings international street artists to paint large murals and smaller works around the city centre, with free walking tours. The 2020 edition was cancelled because of the pandemic, and the festival returned at full scale in 2022.

What is Hit the North?

Hit the North is a street art festival in Belfast, organised by Seedhead Arts, which began in 2013 in response to empty spaces around North Street. It runs for a few days each spring, with a paint jam in the Cathedral Quarter, and calls itself Ireland's largest street art festival. The 2026 festival ran from 30 April to 3 May. See Belfast's murals.

Which past events changed UK street art?

The Cans Festival, London (May 2008)

Banksy turned the Leake Street tunnel under Waterloo into a public gallery, with stencil artists from around the world. It led to Leake Street becoming a legal graffiti space. See legal graffiti walls.

Street Art at Tate Modern (May to August 2008)

Tate Modern commissioned Blu, Faile, JR, Nunca, Os Gemeos and Sixeart to paint its river facade, the first time a major British museum gave its building to street artists.

See No Evil, Bristol (2011 and 2012)

Led by Inkie with Bristol City Council, 72 artists repainted the grey office blocks of Nelson Street in 2011, and 45 in 2012. Three 2011 murals were kept by public vote.

Cities of Hope, Manchester (May 2016)

Nine international artists painted murals in the Northern Quarter, each matched with a local charity.

City of Colours, Birmingham

A festival that brought large murals to the warehouses and railway arches of Digbeth.

How can you get the most from a festival?

• Go on more than one day: walls develop from sketch to finished mural over several days.
• Join a guided walk to meet artists and learn the stories behind the work.
• Buy prints or merchandise from the festival shop to support it; most are free and rely on donations and sponsors.
• Follow festivals on social media for live painting schedules.

Our fairs and festivals page lists confirmed dates.

Where to go next

Plan your trip with the best UK cities for street art.