Over the first weekend of March, the walls, laneways, and buildings of Braddon and Civic will come to life with Surface festival, Canberra’s first ever celebration of street art.

Running from 4-6 March, it will comprise over 26 events spanning live mural paintings to workshops and walking tours. Program highlights include a Boogie Down Under block party, the Woden drains time warp outdoor exhibition, and a ‘scoot and screen’ tour involving light projections, music, and e-scooters.

Local artist and festival producer, Britt Nichols, said the range of artwork and art styles is vast, spanning from portraiture to geometric, indigenous art, and “a lot” of traditional graffiti. The 30 walls and structures that will be activated over the weekend range from two metres up to “multiple stories”.

“It’s going to be a really, really impressive weekend,” she said.

35 local and interstate artists have been invited to participate in Surface festival.

Ms Nichols said it’s a demonstration of the many channels available to artists locally outside of more traditional mediums.

“it’s really exciting to see a festival like this just to see what avenues there are for art, it’s not just around exhibiting in a gallery, there are so many other options in Canberra.”

There are over 30 legal graffiti sites in Canberra, while the ACT Government regularly commission local artists to create murals on a range of public buildings and amenities like changerooms, local shops, toilet blocks, bus shelters, skate parks, and a host of other blank canvases across town.

Minister for Arts and Business, Tara Cheyne, said Surface festival is a “fantastic exemplar that art is for everybody at every age and all abilities”.

Punters can both observe and participate in the art if they choose to do so; and are encouraged to talk to the artists and even have a go themselves.

Ms Cheyne is hopeful the festival will support both the arts community and nearby businesses by activating spaces and beautifying the precincts

“This has been a particularly tough time for our local businesses, so bringing people into the city, having a bit of fun with it as well, but also stay after you’ve seen the art,” Ms Cheyne said.

Minister for City Services, Chris Steel, said the works created for the festival will remain in situ “long beyond the festival”.

“We’re expecting these artworks to last over the next few years until they need to be updated again,” he said.

Visit surfacefest.com.au for more.

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