We are backing Worcester Paint Festival for the fifth year running
We are proud to continue our sponsorship of Worcester Paint Festival (WPF) for the fifth consecutive year, celebrating street art as a powerful tool for community cohesion, creative expression and cultural inclusion.
The 2024 festival took street art beyond the city centre and into the heart of local neighbourhoods, bringing headline murals to Dines Green, St John’s and a community environmental piece in Warndon, home to a high number of our customers.
Paul Edwards, our Community Engagement Officer said: “We believe that everyone should have access to inspiring art, regardless of where they live. That’s why supporting WPF as it reaches deeper into our communities is so important to us.”
Last year’s activities included:
- Murals in Cripplegate Park and other locations across the city;
- A pop up exhibition in Crowngate Shopping Centre, showcasing Worcester’s graffiti scene from the 1980s to today, through film, photography and mural displays.
This year plans are well underway for workshops in Perry Wood and Hollymount Schools, with the aim of creating new murals in each; both involve a session with the young people with artist Zed in the Clouds attending Hollymount and Chroma Chameleons at Perry Wood. A proposed mural installation in Tolladine’s Rose Avenue is also planned, another neighbourhood with a strong Platform presence. Tolladine has been chosen as it is the only estate in the city that currently does not have a mural.
The festival hopes to launch a Worcester Street Art Tour, offering guided walks to share stories behind the murals and the artists who have created them. Looking ahead, WPF hopes to offer opportunities for local and emerging street and graffiti artists to test and showcase their work.
Kate Cox, Director of Worcester Paint Festival explained: “We are so grateful for the support of Platform over the years, helping us to reach into communities and bring quality street art to residents, as well as wider audiences who visit the event and our fantastic murals throughout the year. The festival really does transform our public spaces into a vibrant outdoor gallery, specifically for the medium of street and graffiti art. We are passionate about this vibrant cultural scene and with continued support from sponsors like Platform are able to reach more communities, involve more people and inspire the next generation of artists.”
Artists will be painting during the year depending on their availability and logistics. The festival will culminate on Saturday 20 September where residents and visitors will be invited to take part in the trail, seeing artists painting live at some sites, with maps available at the Tourist Information Centre on the High Street all year round. On the day the festival’s headquarters will be in Crowngate.
Photo caption : ‘Pears’ by artist Spray Paint at Dines Green