Real hunger for street art, event organisers say

Mark Shields (right) is leading the Elements project alongside Tracey Moore (left)

There is a "real hunger" for street art events in north-east England, the organisers of a festival have said.

Elements is taking place in the Ouseburn area of Newcastle this weekend, with more than 20 artists from the North East taking part.

The free event follows a successful fundraiser earlier this year.

Artist and organiser Mark Shields said the aim was to create a platform celebrating artists in the region, while also being a "really cool event" for the public.

"We're hoping to bring lots of opportunities, lots of visibility to the creatives that we have," he said.

The festival features artists Mul, Bobzilla, Mr Zee, Cack Handed Kid, Creative Ginger and Sune with 14 large-scale murals created at the Woods Pottery site.

Workshops and demonstrations also taking place.

'Huge appetite'

The event was able to go ahead after almost £37,000 was raised.

The festival crowdfunded through Spacehive, which sees projects supported by the community matched with other funders.

Mr Shields, who leads Elements alongside community interest company Building Culture and project management firm Project North East (PNE), said: "I think there's a huge appetite in the North East, there's a lot of fans of it.

"There's a hunger for it all around the country, but I think because we don't have events like this so much up here, it's even more so."

PNE director Tracey Moore added the impact of Elements would be felt throughout the year, "establishing a new cultural destination for Newcastle".