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A mural is worth a thousand words: Weekend block party celebrates Edmonton murals

EDMONTON -

The second annual Mural Massive Festival, a celebration of murals in Edmonton along 81 Avenue and 101 Street, kicked off in Edmonton Saturday.

The event featured live music, an indoor art auction and, naturally, murals. There are 17 murals being painted in the city over the weekend, 12 of them are being painted at the festival.

“The event started because we wanted to get our building painted last year and we kind of built a festival around it,” said Byron Martin, the festival director and artistic director for the Grindstone Theatre.

“It was just really popular last year so everyone was asking for us to do it again.”

The festival is being put on by the Grindstone Theatre Society in partnership with Min Bid Art Auctions and the Old Strathcona Business Association.

“We love this area of West Ritchie and 81 Avenue, there’s lots of awesome businesses along this street so we love partnering with them and bringing more people down to the area,” said Martin. “It’s nice just to celebrate art, culture and bring people together in a safe way.”

Some of the murals being painted were going up on the West Ritchie Community Garden, the South Trade Centre and the Ritchie Community League.

The festival is open again on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Admission is $25 per person, or $10 for artists and students.

 A smaller block party is also being held downtown near the 104 Street Market on Sept. 18, where one more mural is being done.

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