Southend Festival returns: International artists will paint the city with epic street art murals

March 30, 2022

Southend Festival returns this September with a whole host of amazing events showcasing the city of Southend’s vibrant and diverse cultural scene including comedy, art, music, children’s events and much more.

One of the festival highlights will be Southend City Jam, a three-day celebration of street art that will see local, national and internationally acclaimed artists create epic large-scale murals on buildings and walls across the city. Over ten headline artists are already confirmed including Brazilian-born Liam Bononi and Dublin-based artists Aches and Dan Leo.

The event has been organised by local artists Karl Sims and Steve Hart of Pryzm Arts, with support from Southend-on-Sea City Council, Southend Business Improvement District (BID) and Southend Tourism Partnership.

Scott Dolling, director of culture and tourism at the council, said: “I am thrilled to announce that we will be hosting this wonderful free event as part of the Southend Festival. Street art has grown in popularity and we’re excited to exhibit the work of highly respected global artists, in a legal and safe way, to celebrate this form of popular culture in Southend.”

Ashley Oglina-Beecham, manager of Southend BID, added: “Southend BID are delighted to sponsor such a fantastic event. We are proud to provide both local and global artists an opportunity to showcase their considerable talent across the city and we can’t wait for their work to be enjoyed by the people of Southend. City Jam will attract thousands of visitors to the city centre providing businesses with a crucial boost as we navigate our way out of the pandemic.”

Jacqui Dallimore, chair of the Southend Tourism Partnership, said: “Street art is a wonderful and accessible art form and I’m excited to see such an amazing event come to our city. With such huge names within the street art community attending, we’re confident City Jam will boost the economy as well as create a vibrant and buzzing atmosphere.”

The City Jam team are aiming to expand the event across the city by encouraging more businesses to get involved either through sponsorship or donating their publicly accessible walls as ‘canvases’ for the street art.

Southend City Jam takes place from 2 to 4 September 2022. For more information including details of all the artists involved, workshops, volunteering and sponsorship opportunities, and details of how to donate a wall, visit the Southend City Jam website.