Vancouver to host new mural and arts festival this summer

A local arts collective is launching a new festival to celebrate the history and future of murals in Vancouver.

Artists Steffanie Love and Drew Young started the Astro Club last year, offering visual creatives a place to work and connect. This year, the club is expanding its offer to the public to join in the Astro Arts Festival from Aug. 8 to 10.

The festival, which will take place around the Astro Club’s 4th Avenue venue, will feature live mural painting, a beer garden, live DJs, an artisan market, and open artist studios to tour.

In January, the popular Vancouver Mural Festival announced shutting down operations after nine years, citing financial challenges.

Young, an original co-founder and curator of the Vancouver Mural Festival, says it was responsible for building an entire creative economy that didn’t exist in Vancouver before.

He says the city needs an event like it to support artists who rely on murals for their income.

“Obviously, it’s a different vibe, different tact, different scale, but without a flagship event, the sponsors, developers, larger companies who have money to spend in the arts forget,” said Young.

“We want to ensure that we are really showcasing that work and giving the public an opportunity to engage with the artists that are here,” said Love.

Love says one of the festival’s biggest draws will likely be watching over 30 murals and graffiti works painted live. Six new large-scale public artworks will be put up in the days ahead of the festival, including a mural on the Columbia Street-facing wall of the Astro Club building by Young himself.

The organizers say putting together a new festival has been challenging, leaning on tight budgets, dedicated volunteers, and generous patrons to bring a new experience to Vancouver.

“It’s startup town, so it’s a little rough and tumble, but we work on the arts, and that’s just kind of the way she goes,” said Young.

The Astro Arts Festival kicks off Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. with a viewing of more than 100 12″ by 12″ artworks from local talents.

Tickets and access to the patron program can be found on the Astro Arts Club website.