The creators behind Europe's biggest street art festival, Upfest, will be making a big roar at Wild Place Project with a diverse selection of artists live painting ahead of the zoo’s May half-term festivities – SpringFest.
On 20 - 21 May 2023, eight street artists including Aspire, Bex Glover, Cheo, Felix Braun, The Hass, Sian Storey, Silent Hobo and Sophie Long, will create large scale artworks, drawing inspiration from the wide range of conservation work Bristol Zoological Society does.
Using their own signature styles and creative flair, one-of-a-kind pieces will emerge telling the story of Bristol Zoological Society’s conservation programmes from across the globe. From saving critically endangered lemur leaf frogs in the forests of Costa Rica and the western lowland gorillas in Equatorial Guinea in Africa, to the rivers of the UK where white-clawed crayfish are in decline. The eights murals will also look ahead to when the Society builds a new zoo at Wild Place Project - to be called Bristol Zoo Project. Here, construction will start in 2024 and then the Society will welcome exciting new animal species to the site.
Wild Place Project visitors can check out incredible pieces from the world-class street artists and watch the artworks come to life over the course of the weekend at the beautiful Tower Meadow. As well as being part of the action, visitors can take in the whole Wild Place experience, exploring the fun family attraction that provides outdoor adventure and play with the chance to see amazing animals from across the world, from the mischievous lemurs of Madagascar to magnificent European brown bears, with every visit supporting the charity’s conservation work.
When the paint has dried, this May half-term Wild Place Project and Upfest will be hosting SpringFest which will provide perfect family entertainment. With games and crafts for everyone to get involved in, as well as following the new art trail through Tower Meadow, activities will kick off between 12:30PM to 3:30PM every day. Families and visitors can also get a piece of the action by adding their handprints onto a giant mural and leaving a pledge on a globe sculpture made from willow. Other activities include pop-up animal talks, giant traditional lawn games and interactive storytelling at no extra cost.
Upfest co-founder, Stephen Hayles, said: “This is a brilliant project and we can’t wait to bring a splash of colour to this amazing organisation. It’s great to be working with Wild Place Project and highlighting all the conservation work they do through art and for visitors to see the installations be created with the Live Paint Takeover.”
Justin Morris, CEO of Bristol Zoological Society, said: “We’re over the moon to be partnering with Upfest on this brand new project. Street art is such a huge part of Bristol and we couldn’t be more excited to bring in incredible street artists to create bespoke artworks showcasing the vital work we do to protect endangered species and animal habitats around the world. It will definitely be a weekend to remember.”
To keep up to date, you can follow Upfest on Twitter and Instagram or visit the Upfest website for more information.
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