MURAL Festival – June 8-18, 2023

2023 MURAL Festival

“We are very excited to welcome the public for the arrival of summer and to offer them, along with dozens of local and international artists, a great celebration of urban art in all its forms!”, says Pierre-Alain Benoît, general manager of MURAL Festival.

Tima

Visual arts

True to form, the MURAL Festival will welcome several world-renowned international artists in 2023: iconic Brazilian duo OSGEMEOS has just completed a large mural on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in the city center. French artist Saype, is currently working and will inaugurate next week a gigantic ephemeral work on the grass of Mount Royal Park.

Cleon Peterson (USA), Lauren YS (USA), Tima (Morocco) will also create large-scale murals. Artist Bordalo II (Portugal) will make a sculpture-based mural. Spanish artist Isaac Cordal will disseminate his miniature installations everywhere on Saint-Laurent Boulevard. Egle Zvirblyte, the Lithuanian artist who created the visual identity of MURAL 2023, will create a mural and several art installations on the Festival grounds.

Jelly Fish by Roadsworth

Canadian artists are not left out, on the contrary. The Montrealers of Projet TYXNA will reinvent the famous mural “Mémé la Main, alias Granny” produced during the 1st edition of the Festival in 2013. M. Falconer (TOR), Alex Bacon (TOR), and Shalak Attack (TOR)  will also produce large murals. Famous Montreal-based street artist Roadsworth will produce several illusionist works on the street and the sidewalks of Saint-Laurent Boulevard. Toronto native birdO will create a huge inflatable work that will be installed on the site of the Festival’s Bloc Parties in the Mile End. Finally, JUNKO will produce an impressive metal sculpture presented in collaboration with BIXI.

Music – Mile End Block Parties

The MURAL Block Parties, which made the Festival legendary will now take place on a new stage, located at the corner of Gaspé and Bernard streets (5705 de Gaspé) in Montreal, in the heart of Mile End. This stage will host all paid musical events of the Festival this year. Tickets are on sale on at www.muralfestival.com

The 5 main Block Parties of MURAL Festival 2023 set at the Mile End Stage:

Friday, June 9 at 5 pm: 
Koffee, a Jamaican reggae musician, singer-songwriter, rapper, deejay and guitarist. In 2020, Koffee won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album at the Grammy Awards ceremony. She became the youngest person and the only woman to be awarded in this category. The artist will offer a lively show, along with her musicians and dancers as well as several local talents.

Saturday, June 10 at 5 pm:
The now famous Moonshine collective Block Party, with Maureen, Nonso Amadi, Djibril Cissé, Pierre Kwenders (DJ Set), San Farafina and many others.This event is a MURAL festival staple, which has become legendary thanks to the Afrobeat and Afrohouse vibes that are Moonshine’s signature.

Sunday, June 11 at 4 pm:
House Day, with Baltra, Forrest and their guests

Friday, June 16 at 5 pm:
Ferg, Harlem’s “Trap Lord” is coming to Montreal to show us everything he knows about the art of the Block Party. Accompanied by the young prodigy Luh Tyler and several local talents, his show promises to be an event not to be missed!

Alex Bacon

Saturday, June 17 at 5 pm:
Dinos, a Cameroonian-born rapper who grew up in La Courneuve, is a key figure of the French Hip-Hop scene. Creating a cinematic atmospheres and with his powerful lyrics, he will no doubt conquer Montreal audiences, along with opening performances by Montreal veterans High Klassified, Rymz and NoKliché, as well as others.

Free events – Programming on Saint-Laurent Boulevard

Despite the change of venue for the main Block Parties, MURAL Festival 2023 continues to enliven the historic heart of Boulevard Saint-Laurent, pedestrianized between Sherbrooke Street and Mont-Royal Avenue for 11 days. Numerous free artistic and musical events and performances will take place there every day.

The Milton Stage is the Festival’s new free stage located directly on the boulevard at the corner with Milton. It features 10 days of outdoor events with a terrace and a bar, including a major live paint battle competition, as well as numerous other shows.

Artist Danaé Brissonnet will present a series of giant puppet shows on the mural she did for the Festival in 2022. A stage will be installed north of Mont-Royal Avenue and MURAL has also organized participatory visual art activities, live graffiti sessions in the Alex Scaner alley, and more…

To learn more about the artists and events visit: www.muralfestival.com