Ready for Up Here? 3-day festival begins tonight

Organizers with Sudbury's Up Here Festival say they like to call the 3-day festival a "controlled explosion."

"Downtown Sudbury is the headliner of the festival," festival co-organizer Christian Pelletier said at a press conference opening the festival.  "Every year we bring in a bunch of different artists, but it's the city that shines, it's the downtown core."

Since the festival began in 2013, over 50 pieces of art have been completed, including murals on building walls and painted electrical utility boxes as part of the Power Up project.

The murals have become the centre of attraction at the festival, with international artists contributing to the downtown landscape.

Jen McKerral, festival co-founder, said the murals have been the "cornerstone" of the festival.

"Public art was one of the first things after the book [We Live Up Here], it's a really important part of what we do, bringing the  arts community together here in Sudbury."

Pelletier said that although the international artists sometimes get the spotlight —  California artist TRAV MSK is painting the landmark St. Joseph's Hospital building —  the festival remains close to its Sudbury roots.

"Eight out of the 10 muralists this year are from Northern Ontario," Pelletier said. "Yes everyone's talking about the old St. Joe's, the TRAV RSK piece, but the majority of murals that we've done in downtown Sudbury are by artists from Northern Ontario."

"That cannot be said enough," he added. "We've got incredible talent here and we're so excited to be able to support them, year after year."

For more information about the festival, including how to download the app, visit the Up Here website.