Lineup announced for Graffiato: Taupō Street Art Festival

An exciting collection of local Taupō artists and prominent New Zealand artists have been secured for the ninth annual Graffiato: Taupō Street Art Festival to be held in Taupō’s town centre this Labour Weekend, 26 – 28 October 2019.

Established New Zealand artists Gina Kiel, Xoë Hall, Gwil, Erin Forsyth and Yelz are among the headline artists attending the festival in October.
Seven of the 11 artists in this year’s lineup have attended Graffiato in the past, and all bring a unique style of muralism.

“When Graffiato first started in 2011, artists were mostly from graffiti and street art backgrounds. These days it’s much more diverse with illustration, typography, tattooing, calligraphy and studio painting all represented on our walls” says festival curator Ross Liew.

This year though new-comer REKS will bring the festival full circle back to its graffiti roots.

“I'm excited by the prospect of having that aesthetic represented after a few years of it being absent” says Ross.

Being mindful of the environment is also a core focus for this year’s festival, with festival event organisers Towncentre Taupō, continuing to improve their sustainability practices.

“We’ve made great progress reducing our environmental impact over the years and plan to improve each year,” says festival coordinator Alice Thompson.
“We are aiming to be a zero-waste event by 2020” says Alice.
Some of the initiatives this year include a roller and paintbrush cleaning station so that the artists can reuse their equipment as many times as possible, and all drop cloths being reused from previous years. All aerosol cans will be returned to a specialist recycling facility in Auckland at the end of the festival.

Alice Thompson: “Last year we estimate that we avoided 120 disposable coffee cups and 150 plastic water bottles from going to landfill by using reusable coffee cups and water bottles for all artists and volunteers.”

This year, Drive EV in Taupō have sponsored the festival by providing an electric vehicle to use during the event to lower the carbon footprint and Resene will be providing a large quantity of recycled paint.

From Saturday morning, visitors will have the opportunity to watch artists at work as they create their large-scale artworks over the long weekend.

“There’s an awesome atmosphere around the town centre during Graffiato festival weekend – it’s a great opportunity for visitors and locals to witness the murals come to life and engage with the artists as they work” says Alice.

One of the great benefits of Graffiato is that the artworks are on display all year round for everyone to see, regardless if they are in Taupō over Labour Weekend.

“The collection of murals in Taupō really does provide you with the broadest look at mural art within the country, while bringing large-scale vibrancy and wonder to our region. Our laneways are becoming destinations themselves due to the number of quality artworks on display” says Destination Great Lake Taupō Marketing Manager, Anna McLaren.

A comprehensive Graffiato: Taupō Street Art Festival Walking Map highlights a selection of Graffiato’s ever-expanding portfolio of over 85 murals.

Pick up a copy at the i-SITE or download here and wander off the main streets into hidden laneways and discover this rich collection of artworks for yourself.

This year’s Graffiato: Taupō Street Art Festival sponsors are Taupō District Creative Communities NZ, Events Capital - Taupō District Council, Destination Great Lake Taupō, Towncentre Taupō, Taupō Access Hire, Resene and DriveEV.

Promotional video for Graffiato: Taupō Street Art Festival 2019 produced by Birdhouse Media.

For more information and event details go to www.taupostreetart.com

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