Festival Mandate

The mission of Street Seen is to create an ongoing social/cultural experience that explores the many facets of urban culture and the arts, while providing an educational outreach initiative to the underserved communities in Halifax Regional Municipality. Street Seen believes that art belongs to everyone.

Street Seen is believes that there is a significant amount of artistic talent that goes unrecognized and underdeveloped. We focus on developing that talent through inclusions in our events, and presenting unique artwork combining visual, music, movement and media for the HRM area. We will work to promote urban art, dance, music and fashion through community events and partnerships.

Street Seen Urban Art Festival Vision

• Respond to our urban character and rich cultural heritage
• Invigorate our urban environment
• Enhance the quality of our public spaces and our urban fabric; and
• Improve and enhance the quality of life for both our artist’s and our audiences.

Urban Art - What is it?

The Street Seen Urban Art Festival is all about the energy, the passion and the talent that makes up urban art. It’s a chance for people to immerse themselves in the hip and contemporary urban art scene presented by some of the area’s best talent. The festival will showcase some of the top performance and visual artists from Halifax and away.

Art is the unexpected provocation leading to interaction with the public, giving them an unforgettable moment of experience and positive personal discovery. In order to assure accessibility for all the majority of the events will be “un-gated” and free for all. The Street Seen Festival will provide people with a rare opportunity to watch art come to life on the street.

The two-day festival will showcase a diverse array of talent ranging from music, DJ’s, sidewalk artists, graffiti artists, dance, and fashion. Street Seen is working to unite and energize Halifax’s urban arts community and to find innovative ways of working together toward common goals.

Urban Art is a growing phenomenon in North America and we are excited to be among the first in Eastern Canada to feature this style of artistic expression. It is an art form vital to the cultural fabric and rituals of urban people everywhere. It is immediate, intimate and interactive. Urban art is a reclamation of our public spaces and our sense of community. For the artists and performers it offers a world of possibilities outside the pre-defined structures of walls and stages and becomes a place to re-invent their relationship to their art and their audience. Art; where the audience can share the stage, and where the spectator can participate in a rich cultural experience and join in freely. A place where community can come together in a shared and positive celebration. Street Seen seeks to bring art back to the street, back to the community and back to its roots in everyday life!

Festival Overview