Graffiti News

Waterside hosts an afternoon built around street art

The Graffwerk Street Art Jam will take place around Graffwerk’s headquarters in Jarvis Street, in Leicester’s Waterside neighbourhood, on Sunday, May 31, 2026, with activities for visitors from 1pm to 4pm. According to Leicester Mercury, artists will bring spray-painted colour to streets around the new development beside the River Soar. Visitors can explore murals on foot or by bicycle.

The location makes the surrounding streets part of the experience. For people who follow murals, a visit can involve looking at both the painted surface and its setting: how a work meets the street, what can be seen from a walking route, and how separate pieces relate to their surroundings. Those are useful ways to approach an outdoor art visit without needing a list of recognised artists.

The report does not identify individual participating artists or give addresses for particular murals. Jarvis Street and Graffwerk’s headquarters are therefore the clearest geographical reference points supplied for planning a visit.

A new trail connects the mural visit

A new street-art trail developed by Graffwerk and Leicester City Council is due to launch during the event. Graffwerk co-director Izzy Peacock told Leicester Mercury that the organisation was working with the Open Streets team on a street-art day for all ages, highlighting the trail’s launch as a particular part of the programme.

For a mural viewer, a trail offers a way to approach several works as part of one exploration. It can shift attention from a single image to the relationship between art and the streets through which a visitor moves. That is especially relevant to an event whose programme explicitly encourages walking and cycling.

The announcement does not provide the complete route, the number of works included or an estimated time to finish it. It also does not establish whether the organised walks and rides will follow the whole new trail. Visitors should treat the trail launch and the guided activities as announced elements, without assuming that every activity covers the same ground.

Workshops sit alongside music, food and bicycle care

A spray-painting workshop will let visitors learn about making murals, while craft activities, food trucks, live music and free bicycle maintenance provide other reasons to spend time at the event. Leicester Mercury lists these alongside the opportunities to see street art.

The workshop brings the process of making a painted work into a programme that also involves looking at finished murals. For someone new to street art, that combination offers two different points of entry: observing the work in its street setting and taking part in an organised painting activity. The announcement concerns the workshop provided by the event; it does not describe permission to paint other surfaces.

The wider programme also gives people visiting together different activities to consider. A mural walk need not be the only focus of an afternoon that includes crafts and music. Bicycle maintenance has a practical connection to the invitation to explore on two wheels.

The report does not specify workshop booking arrangements, age limits, materials or food prices. Free bicycle maintenance is explicitly listed, but that wording should not be extended into an assumption that food or every other item carries no charge.

Open Streets links the event to exploring Leicester

The Street Art Jam is part of Open Streets, organised by Leicester City Council to encourage people to explore the city. Organised walks and cycle rides are also planned for May 31, placing the art programme within a broader invitation to move through Leicester.

Councillor Geoff Whittle, the assistant city mayor responsible for environment and transport, described Open Streets as a way to bring people together in streets and encourage travel on foot, on wheels or by bicycle. He also said more than 1,000 people attended the previous year’s Street Art Jam. That figure describes the earlier event, rather than attendance at the forthcoming gathering.

Further Open Streets events are planned for August and September, although the report gives no exact dates or detailed programmes for them. For the Street Art Jam, the useful planning details remain the May 31 afternoon window and the Jarvis Street focus in Waterside. Readers can also use the Wallscape map to explore murals in other places.

Source: Leicester Mercury