About City Jam
Southend City Jam is a free, annual street art festival that transforms Southend’s city centre and seafront into a huge open-air gallery.
Held over the final weekend of the summer holidays, the three-day festival brings together more than 100 local, national and international artists to create new work across the city. Building walls, shopfronts, shutters and specially constructed temporary surfaces are brought to life with everything from large-scale murals and traditional graffiti lettering to illustration, portraiture and experimental urban art.
Visitors can explore the festival as it unfolds, watch artists at work and discover new artwork appearing throughout Southend.
The 2026 festival takes place from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August.
Created in Southend
Southend City Jam is organised by Southend-on-Sea City Council, in partnership with local artists and street art champions Steve Hart and Karl Sims. They've both supported and promoted graffiti and street art in Southend for decades, helping to shape the city’s creative scene and connect City Jam with artists from Southend, across the UK and around the world.
The festival is delivered with the support of the Southend Tourism Partnership, sponsors, local businesses, property owners, volunteers and the artists themselves. Their combined support allows City Jam to remain free to attend while providing artists with legal, prominent and professionally managed spaces in which to create.
What to Expect
Across the festival weekend, visitors can:
Watch more than 100 artists creating work live
Discover large-scale murals and temporary art installations
Explore artwork throughout the city centre and seafront
Meet artists from Southend, across the UK and around the world
Revisit murals created during previous festivals
Experience Southend’s growing creative community
No two editions of City Jam are the same. New walls, artists and styles are introduced each year, while many previous murals remain in place to be enjoyed long after the festival has finished.
Street Art in Southend
Graffiti and street art have deep roots in Southend. During the 1980s, the area developed a thriving graffiti scene, with local artists helping Southend become an important part of the UK’s emerging urban art culture. Over time, this movement has grown and evolved into the diverse street art scene seen across the city today.
Street art is now an established and internationally recognised artform, celebrated through major festivals, galleries and museums around the world. In Southend, it has been enthusiastically embraced by residents, visitors and local businesses, becoming an increasingly visible part of the city’s cultural identity.
City Jam builds on that history by giving established and emerging artists the opportunity to create ambitious work in public spaces.
Supporting Local Artists
Southend is home to an exceptional community of artists, including internationally recognised names whose work can be found across the UK and around the world. City Jam places local artists alongside leading national and international talent, creating opportunities to share skills, build connections and reach new audiences.
It also aims to inspire the next generation. By allowing people to watch artists working openly and legally, the festival demonstrates the creativity, planning and technical ability behind every finished piece.
Our Vision
Our vision is to showcase the very best of the international urban art movement while celebrating the talent that already exists within Southend.
We want to:
Create more opportunities for artists to produce work legally
Develop carefully selected and well-managed painting locations
Support emerging and established local artists
Provide accessible workshops and creative activities
Bring overlooked walls and spaces back to life
Encourage people to explore different parts of the city
Build a permanent collection of high-quality public art
Establish Southend as a leading destination for street art
Public art can change how people experience a place. It can create landmarks, start conversations, support local businesses and give communities a stronger sense of identity and ownership.
Our ambition for Southend is bold, but City Jam has already shown what can happen when artists, residents, businesses and organisations work together.
More Than a Weekend
Although the live festival takes place over three days, its impact lasts throughout the year. Many City Jam murals remain in place after the festival, creating an evolving outdoor gallery that can be explored at any time. Each year adds another layer to Southend’s streets, with new work appearing alongside pieces created during previous festivals.
The result is a growing collection of public artwork that belongs to the city and can be enjoyed freely by residents and visitors.
City Jam at a Glance
Three days of live street art
More than 100 artists
Local, national and international talent
Permanent murals and temporary painting walls
Locations across Southend city centre and seafront
Free to attend
Help Make City Jam Happen
Southend City Jam is made possible by the businesses, organisations, property owners, sponsors and volunteers who support the festival. Whether you can provide a wall, sponsor an artist, volunteer during the event or help promote the festival, there are many ways to become part of City Jam and support the future of street art in Southend.