Organisers of Upfest, the annual street art festival in South Bristol which is Europe’s biggest event of its kind, have launched a crowdfunder with a £20,000 target to bring the event back next year.
Upfest didn’t take place this summer with organisers explaining that spiralling costs were hitting the budgets of the event. The festival sees scores of the world’s greatest street artists come to the streets of Bedminster to paint the walls, along with a series of temporary events in local parks. Upfest has developed into becoming one of the key events in Bristol‘s social calendar, but was hit hard by Covid and returned fully in 2022 with a bigger event than ever before at Greville Smyth Park.
Organisers announced in December 2022 that the 2023 event would not be taking place, and they were taking a break with the hope to be back in 2024. A smaller event took place in Weston-super-Mare in the summer of 2023. Now, Upfest 2024 has been announced, but the organisers need £20,000 in donations towards a total bill of £250,000 to make it happen.
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An Upfest spokesperson said staging the event costs around a quarter of a million pounds. “Following a fallow year, the team behind Upfest is launching its annual crowdfunding campaign, rallying support from art lovers, the Bristol community and festival fans alike. The event will need to raise £250,000 to stage the 16th edition in 2024. Since its debut in 2008, Upfest has remained free and brings over 50,000 visitors to each edition. Attracting visitors from Bristol and beyond, the festival hosts local, national and international street artists of all levels who each apply for a space to paint at the two day festival weekend.”
Another blow for Upfest was a decision by local traders not to continue with the Bedminster Business Improvement District, which was a key backer for Upfest. Co-founder Steve Hayles confirmed the switch to running the festival every two years in Bristol, but the costs of staging it had grown exponentially since it first began. “We have moved Upfest to a bi-annual model and continue to still be volunteer-led with hundreds of people donating time in the lead up and during the event,” he said.
“We are facing increasing costs, just like all large-scale events, and we’ve never needed support from the community more to keep Upfest going. The crowdfunder goes to pay for infrastructure, safety, security and entertainment as well as artist materials, scissor lifts and loads of other elements which it takes to stage a festival of this size. Each year we’re blown away by the love and support we get from the community, and we appreciate every single contribution,” he added.
The initial crowdfunder has a £20,000 target and anyone who makes a donation will be able to give to specific areas of the festival operation, such as providing artists with spray paint or contributing to the cost of keeping the festival site clean both during and after the event.
In addition to the crowdfunding, Upfest has joined Patreon; an online platform which allows supporters to regularly give to the festival. This will feature exclusive content and Patreon member benefits at the festival as well as through the year for the festival’s superfans.
Upfest has hosted Bristol street art legends, Inkie, Jody, Lucas Antics, Andy Council, HazardOne and more throughout its 15 years, as well as international artists such as Insane51, Kashnik and L7M. The festival also provides a huge platform for up and coming artists to showcase their talents and will also once again raise money for The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA) which offers aid and assistance for children growing up in families affected by alcoholism.
- For more information on the crowdfunder, visit here. For more information on the Upfest Patreon group visit here.
