Vancouver Mural Festival returns August 4-14, 2022 with a spectacular 11-day celebration featuring daily block parties, mural tours and over 30 new murals across the city.

Discover the creative side of Vancouver’s great outdoors with an incredible line-up of 150+ visual and performing artists over 11 days of art and experiences. Beautiful new murals will bring walls to life in neighbourhoods across Vancouver, while an extensive schedule of events will connect and bring communities together. Vancouver Mural Festival will host daily mural tours, public talks, daily live performances at the all-new City Centre Festival Hub, plus a spectacular all-ages festival closing street party in downtown Vancouver.

MURALS

As always, a major highlight of the festival is exploring neighbourhoods to see murals come to life as artists paint on giant “canvases” throughout the city. This summer, 50 artists will bring 30+ murals to 8 neighbourhoods across the city:

• Cambie Village

• Downtown

• Marpole

• Mount Pleasant

• North Shore

• River District

• Strathcona

• West End

PROGRAMMING

LIVE EVENTS @ CITY CENTRE

The newly-transformed, former City Centre Motel (located at 2111 Main Street) will serve as this summer’s Festival Hub. Home to 75 artist studios and VMF’s largest mural-to-date, the iconic Mount Pleasant landmark will be activated daily with free, all-ages, outdoor entertainment (live music, DJs, dance, drag, kids activities), licensed bars, food trucks and more.

• Aug.4 – Circus & Flow Show

• Aug.5 – Music BC presents a night of pop, soul, hip-hop and R&B

• Aug.6 – Wundrkut Forever presents Red Bull Dance Your Style Qualifier featuring interactive hip hop workshops, dance battles, and DJ battles and performances

• Aug.6 & 7 – Holden Courage Graffiti Jam

• Aug.7 – Bye Felicia Drag Brunch & Tea Dance

• Aug.7 – Flamenco Dance Night

• Aug.8 – Pop-Up Market curated by Tongue Market

• Aug.9 – SNAG ART live painting battle and art market

• Aug.10 – Soda Pop Pride featuring queer, youth-focussed dance party, games, and drag performances

• Aug.11 – 100 Collective Live Music Show

• Aug.12 – Razzle Dazzle Dance Party featuring live music, dancing and drag by Queer and Trans Indigenous talent

• Aug.13 – Public Disco featuring capoeira, dance, DJs, hoop zone, kids activities and more

OPEN ARTIST STUDIOS

The City Centre Artist Lodge at Main & 6th features 75 studios, converted from the former motel’s rooms. Over the festival’s two weekends (August 6, 7, 13), various artists–from painters and photographers to ceramists and jewellers—will open their doors for visitors to explore and buy art.

MURAL TOURS presented by Herschel Supply

This summer, Vancouver Mural Festival expands its mural tours into neighbourhoods across the city. Guided walking tours in Mount Pleasant and Strathcona will be led by DeTours, while five new tours in Downtown, West End, Cambie Village, Marpole and River District will be offered by Curated Tastes. Sign up for a guided walking tour or download the free VMF App for a self-guided tour and learn about Vancouver Mural Festival’s nearly 350 murals (and artists) across the city.

PUBLIC TALKS

VMF presents several opportunities to participate in arts-driven conversations with creatives in the community:

• Aug.4 – Creatives Guide presented by Herschel Supply

• Aug.9 – Artist & Curator Talk

• Aug.10 – Almost Live Crowder: Crowd-Sourced Mural Descriptions

• Aug.11 – Creative Placemaking: A Conversation

• Aug.12 – Murals Without Walls presented by Kickstart Disability Art & Culture

VMF AFTER DARK

VMF After Dark is Vancouver Mural Festival’s official after-party at the Biltmore Cabaret. The ticketed, Saturday night events will showcase a mix of music, performances and dancing.

• Aug.6 – VMF After Dark x Deep From the Underground

• Aug.13 – VMF After Dark x Public Disco

FESTIVAL STREET PARTY @ GRANVILLE PROMENADE

Vancouver Mural Festival will celebrate its August 14 finale with an all-ages street party at the Granville Promenade (in partnership with the Downtown Vancouver BIA). Taking over two full blocks on Granville Street between Smithe and Helmcken, the free street party features a full day of live music, DJs, drag, dancers, kid’s activities, live painters, market and more.

2022 Vancouver Mural Festival project highlights include:

• City Centre Project – Mount Pleasant’s iconic City Centre Motel has been transformed into a temporary creative and community space: Motel rooms have been converted into artist studios; the exterior has been covered with VMF’s largest mural-to-date; the site will serve as a community space for events including Vancouver Mural Festival’s Hub this summer. This project serves as a model for arts-driven placemaking and a vision of how underused and transitional space can be reimagined and repurposed for community well-being.

• Blanketing The City – For the fifth instalment of this on-going public art series, acclaimed Musqueam weaver and artist, Debra Sparrow invites Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh weavers to collaborate and create a mural on traditional Squamish lands.

• Low Barrier Arts Program – VMF is examining opportunities to remove barriers to accessing its public art and programming. This year, the focus is on supporting access and removing barriers for folks experiencing Low-Vision and Blindness, Neurodiverse folks and those living with disabilities. The programming consists of interconnected initiatives including:

  • Crowder: Crowd-Sourced Description Event featuring VMF Murals with VocalEYE

  • Murals Without Walls: Four Temporary Mural Installations by artists with disabilities, preceded by a series of capacity building workshops led by Kickstart.

VMF continually seeks to connect, showcase and reflect diverse cultures and communities through its public art and events. It works with local creatives and neighbourhood stakeholders to collectively reimagine public space as the heart of every community. Vancouver Mural Festival is an annual, free, all-ages event welcoming all to celebrate and connect through meaningful art and experiences across the city. The 2022 festival will take place August 4-14.

Get a sneak peek of this summer’s Vancouver Mural Festival celebration at the City Centre Block Party (June 25-26).

Check out vanmuralfest.ca and @vanmuralfest for more details, event calendar and updates coming soon.

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats.