ABOUT CITY JAM
Southend City Jam is a street art festival that takes place annually at the end of the Summer Holidays.
The three-day celebration of street art is organised by Southend-on-Sea City Council and Southend Tourism Partnership, alongside local artists Karl Sims and Steve Hart, who have championed street art in Southend for decades.
Each year features over 100 talented local, national and international street artists, who transform a number of permanent and temporary walls around the City Centre and Seafront. From the sides of buildings, to temporary walls, no surface is safe!
Southend City Jam is only possible with our amazing sponsors, external partners, volunteers and artists. We support our local artists and aim to create a memorable event year upon year.
Street Art in Southend
Street art has been overwhelmingly welcomed by the people of Southend and is now an integral part of the city’s rich and vast array of artforms.
In the 1980s, the city of Southend had a rich collection of talented graffiti artists and quickly become a sub cultural hub of graffiti, that in recent years has morphed into the street art scene. In recent years street art has established itself as a recognized art form worldwide with museums and events focussed solely on its celebration.
Our vision for Southend City is to showcase the best that the urban art movement has to offer from around the world, enhancing and enriching the lives of residents and visitors.
Southend has a wealth of amazing local artists who are globally recognized artists that can hold their own with the world’s best. We want to see all these local talented people reach their potential and create an environment of inspiration for generations to come and help shape the future of the artform.
A true mark of a healthy culture and economy has historically always been displayed through public art. This is evident when looking at places around Europe like Rome, Greece, Pompeii, Egypt, South America and many others.
We want to see street artists legally allowed to express themselves in various well designed appropriate locations around the city, with well organised public workshops for everyone.
Our vision is big for Southend, our vision is bold but most importantly, we the people of Southend have the ability and will to make it happen!