LATEST PRESS RELEASE
Barry to host its first Street Art Festival
Barry’s first Street Art Festival, created in collaboration with Barry-based Paintworx Wales, is an exciting event taking place on the weekend of the 22nd-23rd August at Central Park in Barry. The event is funded by the Barry Neighbourhoods Board and is part of the Board’s larger vision to celebrate and develop cultural events and support artists and performers across the whole of the town.
The two-day festival will host graffiti artists from across Wales who will create live works based around the theme of ‘Barry’. There will also be an opportunity for everyone to get involved and create their own artwork through hands-on workshops. Music from multiple artists, and tasty Street Food from local vendors including Struggles2Smiles, Barry coffee company and ice cream man Che Hunter, will add to the festival vibe. A temporary skateboard ramp will also be installed in the park on the Sunday.
The event will be free, but there will be a small charge for painting workshops to cover the cost of canvases. This is a great opportunity to see some of the most talented graffiti artists in Wales, including KARM, CESTO, RMER, NEWER and many more!
“We’re delighted to collaborate with the Barry Neighbourhoods Board to bring this free, inclusive, fun and vibrant festival celebrating the arts of graffiti, music and community. We want the festival to be as inclusive as possible, ensuring that everyone is welcome, and everyone can take part! We are bringing 25 of Wales’ most talented artists to our hometown, Barry, and hoping to showcase what graffiti and street art has to offer. We have seen how successful this has been for many other towns, and our aim to is to make Barry the graffiti and street art capital of Wales!” Kyle & Ceri, Hurts so good
David Stevens, Chair of the Barry Neighbourhoods Board, said, “we’re excited to be supporting the Barry Street Art Festival and hope that residents get involved and have a great weekend. The Board are committed to helping develop the cultural offering within the town and are delighted to be part of what promises to be a fun event.”
This will be the second cultural project supported by the Barry Neighbourhoods Board, the first being ‘Gig Ready Barry’, which took place at the beginning of the year and gave young musicians in Barry invaluable access to a professional recording studio and a platform to perform to a live audience.
Paint Worx Wales is a new graffiti art festival created by Hurts So Good. They have been funded this year through the Barry Neighbourhoods Programme to bring graffiti artists from all over Wales to Barry in an exciting two-day event.
The Barry Neighbourhoods Board is the decision-making body for the Barry Neighbourhoods Programme, funded by the UK Government’s Pride in Place Programme. The Rhaglen Cymdogaethau’r Barri is a partnership between the Board, the Vale of Glamorgan Council and the local community.
The UK Government’s Pride in Place Programme (formerly Plan for Neighbourhoods) is a £5.8 billion programme that will invest in 284 communities over a decade.