After returning to Benalla for the third annual Wall to Wall Festival, the usually sleepy town once again came to life to celebrate Victoria’s increasingly popular street art festival. This year’s festival drew record crowds and attracted many travellers and tourists alike from all around Victoria to view the high-end contemporary street art.

The colourful street art festival hosted an assortment of nationally and internationally renowned artists along with the local paint and chalk artists, who came together to brighten up the streets of Benalla. It was truly spectacular to see such high-quality artworks densely populating such a small area of space, transforming the cute town into a regional cousin of Fitzroy or Collingwood.

To add to the artistic display, there were also a number of attractions that added to the incredible atmosphere of the charming town, from the fun-loving ‘paint by numbers’ mural which involved dozens of young children who also wanted to join in on the painting action, a skate demo and workshops from the Fast Times and Element skate team on the newly painted Benalla skate park, as well as the Dj’s and bands that set a festival like buzz through the town’s hub.

This year’s guests were also invited to view ‘Born on the Street’-  a selection of work from two of Australia’s most important art collectors, Sandra Powell and Andrew King.  The curation saw a collection of personal art pieces painted by leading Australian artists- Adnate and Rone, which have been accumulated over the years. The group also hosted a panel-like discussion with the artists and their artworks, which allowed guests a rare insight into the profound minds of the artists and collectors.

It’s safe to say the Wall to Wall Festival is rapidly building momentum, making it one of Australias most successful street art festival and highly anticipated event to look out for in the future. The prospect of the 2018 festival is already shaping up to be bigger and better than ever before.

Thanks to Ed Whitfield for the video, and Nicole Reed for the photo content.