LOOKUP Portsmouth returns this weekend and it’s bigger than ever!
Portsmouth is set to burst into colour once again this weekend as LOOKUP Portsmouth, the city’s much-loved street art festival, returns with its biggest programme yet.
More than 100 new artworks will be created on walls across the city with international headline artists Gijs VanHee, Satr, Temponok, Frau Isa, Ansley Randall and Jimmer Willmott among the huge roster of talent for the event.
Local favourite My Dog Sighs and Pigs Might Fly will be painting headline walls and creating a trail of smaller pieces around Portsmouth, encouraging residents and visitors alike to explore and discover street art in unexpected places.
Festival hotspots this year include:
- The side of the old casino on Osborne Road, which will host this year’s largest mural
- Park Road, where 10 artists will be painting
- The Somers Orchard hoardings, featuring 32 artists
- Hilsea Lido Café, with six new murals
It follows last weekend’s Paint Jam launch event where 14 local artists transformed hoardings in Cosham, as well workshops at Portsdown Primary School. Throughout this week some of the artists have also made a start on their creations with a view to putting the finishes touches in place at the weekend.
LOOKUP Portsmouth is made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England, Network Rail, Cosham Councillors and Portsmouth Creates with valuable support from Portsmouth City Council.
Cllr Darren Sanders, the city council’s cabinet member for housing and tackling homelessness, said: “It’s great to see so many great pieces of art around the city that local people helped create. Art has been too often seen as something for the elite. This shows that is not true. Instead it does what good culture should do: gives people pride in where they live.”
Angela Parks, one of the directors of LOOK UP Portsmouth, added: “We’ve always believed that street art should be for everyone – and that’s why we work so closely with the community. It’s their ideas, their spaces, and their response that make LOOK UP what it is.”
To find out more visit: www.lookup-portsmouth.co.uk
Want to plan a route to see the artists at work? Check out LOOK UP’s 2025 map (you can plan a walking route, use ‘LOOKUP2025’ for a discount on Voi bikes and scooters, and remember – it’s free buses every weekend in September!)