Boon Street Art Festival 2023: Hamilton East and CBD adorned with seven new muralsPosted by MMP News AuthorOn November 5, 2023

Hamilton East and the CBD are shining in new colours after the Boon Street Art Festival brightened up the city over the weekend.

From November 3 to 5, a crew of seven artists, including New Zealand artists Jesse Mosen, Cinzah, Gary Venn, Kell Sunshine, Haser and Alice Alva, as well as Japanese artist Koryu, have taken on seven local blank walls, most of them along Grey Street, near the newly opened Made market precinct.

Venn, an illustrator from Cambridge, usually works with smaller canvases and was not only part of the festival for the first time, but also created his first mural.

He said he has been a fan of Boon and always wanted to be a part of the festival.

“It was on my wishlist for a long time. It was also very special because my daughter Enid helped me paint some parts of the mural. She is a little artist herself.”

Venn said he was fascinated by medieval carvings, which were the inspiration for his Boon mural.

“I make up my own creatures, and tried to imitate the carving part by using very straight lines.”

Boon co-founder Paul Bradley, also known as Pauly B, said the festival celebrated a return to Hamilton East this year.

“We already had a festival here in 2017, but we were only able to secure two walls [for murals].”

He said over the three days, the festival…