Vancouver Mural Festival announces plans for more than 60 new public artworks, including major projects at Cathedral Square, Strathcona, and Punjabi market

Event unveils programming for August 4 to 22, including 40 live open-air performances

Mural by Jocelyn Wong. Photo by Mavreen David.

SIXTY NEW MURALS and 40 live outdoor performances were announced by the Vancouver Mural Festival today.

Plans for its programming, August 4 to 22, include daily mural tours, in-person and online public talks, and over 40 live performances at an open-air, pop-up patio in Mount Pleasant.

Community projects include Punjabi Market: Murals In The Market, storytelling and discussion around racism and discrimination through public art by local BIPOC artists; the Black Strathcona Resurgence Project, in which Black artists, curators, businesses and communities to embark on a multi-year project centring on Black storytelling through public murals; and Blanketing The City IV: Cathedral Square, a major semi-permanent public-art collaboration on seven landmark murals by weavers from the three local nations, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl’ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh).

Meanwhile, the VMF Pop-Up Patio, will serve as a licensed, outdoor venue featuring 40-plus live shows over three weeks. Its lineup includes live music, drag, burlesque, and graffiti jams. Details on the performances and tickets will be announced on July 7. You can find more info here.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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