Students Bring the Paint for colourful street art festival

Students are helping support the biggest-ever graffiti art festival in Leicester which comes to the streets this bank holiday weekend. Bring the Paint International Street Art Festival will see buildings in the city's Cultural Quarter given incredible fresh designs by more than 150 artists from around the world.



Alongside the large-scale murals there will be live artworks, music, skateboarding, breakdancing, BMX and a range of activities and exhibitions for the public. Bring The Paint International Graffiti Festival aims to inspire a legacy of artistic growth and collaboration within the artistic community and beyond. Offering a platform to be creative and collaborate on a monumental scale, the festival is a visual celebration of Leicester’s diverse culture and will showcase the city’s thriving arts scene.

Students from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have volunteered to help out in roles including stewarding, audience engagement and artistic support. DMU students will be supporting work by charity The Sparks Arts for Children which is encouraging youngsters to get involved with graffiti workshops  at Curve theatre.

#DMUlocal uses the skills and talents of our students to help promote Leicester and bring positive changes to our city. It runs more than 70 projects supporting community schemes across the city.

Volunteer, Hafsah Dassu said: “I volunteered mainly because there is an opportunity to help out with the children’s charity SparkArts. This charity encourages creativity with kids and aims to re-engage the youth with the arts. I’m really looking forward to it.”

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Rashmi Dhanwani said: “I am looking forward to doing any work they give me as it is all experience. I study International marketing and business here at DMU and so I like all work that includes the promotion of events.”

Arts and Festivals Management student Becky Ross said working at Bring the Paint would provide a great opportunity to be involved in a festival event. She said: “It will be a good overall experience.”

As well as the artworks there are events being held around the Cultural Quarter for people to enjoy. This includes a Bambino Disco in St George's; and a celebration of the 1996 festival Return of the Macks, Breakin' Convention hip hop festival, skateboarding in Orton Square and a screening of the 1980s classic Warriors at LCB Depot.

“It’s awesome to see people working hard to put a street art event on in the UK and the line up looks amazing," said artist Smug.