Music and Visual Art Collide at Wall-To-Wall Mural + Culture Festival

Music, visual art, and multimedia collide in Winnipeg in September for the sixth edition of the Wall-To-Wall Mural + Culture Festival. This year's festival features a number of shows  with lots of new live music music and plenty of innovative local artists as well as touring acts hitting city stages. It all culminates on Nuit Blanche with a finale event in the city's core. 

DJ J. Jackson kicks the music off on September 1 at The Tallest Poppy at the Drag Brunch. All the tickets have been snapped up, but there's more chances to see live music throughout the month.

Jams Collective, aka DJs Anthony OKS and Zuki, celebrate First Fridays W2W style on September 6 at The Tallest Poppy along with up-and-coming hip hop duo Farmers.  

Indie pop powerhouse Begonia will be holding court at The Tallest Poppy on September 7 for a series of (mostly sold out) album listening parties for her forthcoming new release, Fear. 

On September 12, W2W will present a two-part event featuring pioneering artist Zaki Ibrahim. Ibrahim will share a talk and Q+A as part of The Uniter Speaker Series -- exploring ideas of motherhood, migration, living between two worlds (South African and Canadian), and being an artist -- following by a live performance.

Up-and-coming hip hop artist The O.B. is set to release his debut album, Neverevervill, during W2W at The Ballroom on September 13 with some help from Hari Vajayjay, DJ Tess, Odd Pedestrians, and more. 

W2W returns to The Good Will on September 21 for a special double feature with Vancouver-based queer filipinx rap and electronic artist Kimmortal and Filipino-Icelandic rapper, songwriter and sound engineer Cell7. Khao Restaurant will also be there serving some Filipino delicacies. 

The festival closes on September 28 with a communtiy celebration and stage curated by sākihiwē festival during Nuit Blanche, a free exploration and celebration of contemporary art that takes place on the Saturday of the Culture Days weekend from dusk to dawn. The night will feature Anachnid, a multidisciplinary artist of Oji-Cree and Mi'kmaq First Nations experimenting with electro-pop to indie trap, soul, and hip hop married to elements of its Indigenous root. Urban Shaman Gallery is presenting Roseau River's Sons Of The Drum and Anishinaabe DJ and producer Boogey the Beat to bring together a non-competitive, family-friendly urban Pow Wow. 

Wall-To-Wall will also host a series of workshops for youth interested in exploring street art and music with the Graffiti Art Programming, which also runs youth art and music programming through Studio 393. The free weekly visual art and music workshops feature some of this year's performers including Skratch Bastid and Cartel Madras (Sep 9-11), Cell7 (Sep 19), and Kimmortal (Sep 20). Find out more about the workshops

Folks can take in the mural sites and connect with the artists as their create their art through the city, including a downtown mural tour on September 17. Find out more about the visual artists

Launched in 2014 by local arts initiative Synonym Art Consultation, Wall-to-Wall is a mural and culture festival that takes place across Winnipeg, Manitoba on original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation and Treaty 1 Territory. It sees the creation of multiple indoor and outdoor murals across the city and celebrates each new work of art with unique events. The festival culminates with a huge celebration that coincides with Nuit Blanche Winnipeg, bringing together diverse communities around art, music, dance, and more. The festival takes place annually, from September 1-30.

Check out the completed lineup of Wall-To-Wall events at walltowallwpg.com and get the live music listings in the free MB Live app and online listings.

This is event is an MB Live partnered event. For more info about MB Live, visit www.manitobamusic.com/mblive. For more info about partnership, please visit www.manitobamusic.com/partnerships.

2018 Wall-to-Wall Mural & Culture Festival from Synonym Art Consultation on Vimeo.