Brisbane Street Art Festival
Record and impact · 2016 to 2025

Ten editions, on the record.

What the Brisbane Street Art Festival did, counted, with the source beside every number.

Back the festival →See the work
10
Editions
320
Documented murals
34
Suburbs
730+
Artists, by festival records

Murals and suburbs: counted in this archive · Meanjin / Brisbane

The claim

Australia’s largest, by documented murals

The Brisbane Street Art Festival (BSAF) is Australia’s largest street art festival by documented murals. Over ten editions from 2016 to 2025 it produced 320 documented murals across 34 suburbs of Brisbane and Ipswich.

This archive holds all 320 murals. Each is credited to its artist and placed on the map, and almost all are photographed. Where several artists painted one wall, each artist’s work is counted. Some works were temporary, and some walls have since been painted over or demolished.

The archive is not complete: the festival’s own records count more walls than have been documented here so far. BSAF is also the largest street art festival Queensland has produced.

Check it on the map →All 320 murals →

Evaluated for Tourism and Events Queensland · 2021

More than a million mural viewings in 16 days.

1,094,004
Public mural viewings in 16 days
+72
Net Promoter Score among attendees
93%
Agreed locals should feel proud of BSAF
90%
Agreed BSAF adds to the appeal of Brisbane

In 2021, Tourism and Events Queensland engaged research firm IER to evaluate the festival under its Queensland Destination Events Program. Across the 16 days of the festival, 1 to 16 May 2021, the evaluation reported 1,094,004 public mural viewings, 260,364 of them at the most-viewed site. Of the attendees surveyed, 95% agreed that Brisbane is a great location for the festival.

A festival lasts two weeks. The murals stay, often for years, so people keep seeing them long after an edition ends. Nobody has measured that audience, so we do not put a number on it.

Source: IER event evaluation for Tourism and Events Queensland, 2021. Viewing and attendance figures are based on estimates the festival supplied to IER. A viewing is not a unique person. The survey results are IER’s analysis of responses from festival attendees.

In the media

Up to 80.7 million in potential media reach

These figures come from the festival’s media reports and the publicists who ran each campaign. Potential reach adds up the audience of every outlet that ran a story. It is not the number of people who saw one. From 2022 the reports count potential impressions across all platforms, which includes outlets’ social posts.

Read the coverage →
20183.8 million92 media itemsAgency North campaign report
201928.2 million78 media itemsP4 Group campaign report
202124.5 million59 media itemsP4 Group campaign, festival report
202257.3 million190 media itemsFestival post-event report
202380.7 million919 media and social itemsFestival media report
202452.6 millionNot itemisedFestival records
Beyond the walls

More than murals

Within These Walls

The festival’s annual group exhibition gave artists a place to show and sell work. It presented 40 artists and 87 works at Brisbane Powerhouse in 2018, 70 artists and 180 works at West Village in 2019, and 68 artists at Superordinary Northshore in 2022.

Workshops and talks

Aerosol masterclasses, lettering, paste-ups, artist talks and cycling tours ran beside the murals. The 2019 festival report counted about 1,500 participants, with 64 volunteers giving more than 1,100 hours.

International exchange

Tools of the Trade, an exhibition from Hong Kong’s HKwalls, came to Brisbane in 2022. Meeting of Styles, the international graffiti event, had its first Brisbane edition at the 2025 festival with about 40 artists.

Beyond Brisbane

In 2020 the festival took seven murals to the Ipswich city centre, its first program there, with Fintan Magee, Rachael Sarra and five other artists.

The program archive →
2016 to 2025

Ten editions, fact by fact

20166 to 14 February 201614 documented murals52 artists · 27 walls · 5 events.
201711 February to 3 March 201717 documented murals159 artists · 23 walls · 33 events.
201831 March to 15 April 201841 documented murals121 artists · 56 walls · 13 events. Within These Walls at Brisbane Powerhouse: 40 artists, 87 works.
20194 to 19 May 201943 documented murals115 artists · 50 walls · 19 events. Within These Walls at West Village: 70 artists, 180 works.
2020Spread across 202041 documented murals100 artists · 41 walls · 6 events. Reshaped by COVID-19: a live-streamed painting weekend on 16 and 17 May, then seven murals in Ipswich in August.
20211 to 16 May 202143 documented murals120 artists · 41 walls · 18 events. Within These Walls at Superordinary: 50 artists. Evaluated by IER for Tourism and Events Queensland. The evaluation reported 1,094,004 public mural viewings in 16 days.
20227 to 22 May 202250 documented murals120 artists · 52 walls · 15 events. Within These Walls at Superordinary Northshore: 68 artists, more than 150 works.
20236 to 21 May 202342 documented murals106 artists · 42 walls · 10 events.
20244 to 19 May 202423 documented murals74 artists · 23 walls · 4 events.
202510 to 18 May 20256 documented muralsThe tenth edition also hosted the first Brisbane edition of Meeting of Styles, with about 40 graffiti artists, and the first Brisbane/Meanjin Paste Up Festival. Those works are not counted in the mural archive.
TotalTen editions320 documented muralsProgram figures are the festival’s own records of a year’s whole program, including exhibitions, workshops and events. They are counted differently from the archive, so the two do not match.
Recognition

A program of national significance

That is a judgment. Here is what it rests on: coverage and support from outside the festival, each linked.

All press and media →
Precinct by precinct

What it did for a place

Howard Smith Wharves

Howard Smith Wharves

BSAF began its partnership with Howard Smith Wharves during the precinct’s revitalisation, delivering a curated program of large-scale murals by leading international and local artists, and bringing the festival program on-site through the annual Felons x BSAF Party at Felons Barrel Hall, a multi-arts celebration of live mural painting, music and performance.

The once-industrial site was reimagined with public art that became central to its distinctive identity and appeal. Together, the permanent works and recurring festival activations deepened community connection and helped elevate Howard Smith Wharves into one of Brisbane’s most recognisable and visited destinations, delivering long-term value for both the precinct and the city.

Multi-year
Mural program
Annual
Felons × BSAF Party
Intl + local
Artist line-up

Northshore Brisbane

Economic Development Queensland

BSAF made Northshore central to its program, commissioning groundbreaking murals, including large-scale ground works by world-class artists, and establishing Superordinary as the festival hub, host to the Launch Party and major group exhibitions. The partnership reached well beyond installations, with community and kids’ workshops alongside internationally significant programming such as the Tools of the Trade exhibition from Hong Kong and Meeting of Styles, the renowned global street-art event.

These initiatives reimagined the riverfront as a creative landmark and elevated Northshore’s profile as a destination for culture and innovation, leaving a lasting legacy that continues to shape the precinct as it grows into one of Brisbane’s leading lifestyle and commercial centres.

Festival hub
Superordinary venue
Hong Kong
Tools of the Trade exhibition
Global
Meeting of Styles

Toombul Shopping Centre

Mirvac

BSAF partnered with Mirvac to activate Toombul across several years, transforming the site through a curated program of live-painted works by both local and international artists, and layering in community workshops, panel talks and the Festival Closing Party on-site.

The precinct was reimagined as a cohesive street-art gallery that became a significant drawcard for visitors. Year after year the layered program strengthened engagement, elevated Toombul’s profile and demonstrated how art can successfully reimagine commercial spaces while delivering lasting value for both stakeholders and the public.

Toombul Shopping Centre closed after the February 2022 floods and has since been demolished. These works no longer exist.

Multi-year
Precinct activation
On-site
Workshops, talks & closing party
Local + intl
Live-painted program

Brisbane Showgrounds

RNA, Royal National Association

BSAF partnered with the Brisbane Showgrounds to transform entire lengths of the Showgrounds’ exterior walls with large-scale murals by leading local and interstate artists, turning blank concrete surfaces into an expansive outdoor gallery and redefining the arrival experience for visitors.

The transformation elevated the Showgrounds beyond its reputation as an events venue, establishing it as a landmark of creativity visible to the tens of thousands who pass each day. By integrating public art into its boundaries, the partnership strengthened community connection and created a lasting cultural asset for Brisbane.

Tens of 1,000s
Daily passers-by
Major roads
Exterior wall gallery
Local + interstate
Artists

QUT Campus Mural Program

Queensland University of Technology

Beginning in 2017, BSAF delivered a multi-year mural program across QUT’s Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove campuses, commissioning leading local and international artists, including DOES (Netherlands), Said Dokins (Mexico) and Guirao (Spain), and coordinating curation, approvals and delivery with QUT’s facilities and estate management.

Large-scale works transformed key campus spaces into vibrant public art that contributes to the cultural character of each campus, strengthening QUT’s civic engagement and its connection with Brisbane’s creative community, a sustained, multi-year partnership delivered with consistent quality across years and campuses.

Since 2017
Partnership
2 campuses
Gardens Point & Kelvin Grove
World-class
International artists
Ready to return

Ten editions behind it. Ready for the next.

BSAF is on hold. There is no date for the next edition. An experienced team is ready to deliver the festival again with the right support.

Back the festival →