Get to Know on the Go: Stephen Hayles

Get to Know on the Go: Stephen Hayles

Posted on: 01 May 2024

This week, as we took the bus tour on the new bus decorated in collaboration between First Bus, Upfest and artist Cheo, we jumped in for a quick interview with Stephen Hayles - founder and director of the prestigious (and prodigious) street art festival. So, enjoy this quick edition of Getting to Know - on the go.

 

What’s your favourite part of the design?

 

It’s got to be...it’s got to be the bee, hasn’t it? No, actually: the Llamas. The llamas on the side of the bus, they’re incredible – they just make you smile.

 

There’s plenty of Cheo’s work around the city – which is your favourite?

 

I really like the collaborations he’s done with Aardman – so there’s a Wallace & Gromit at the bottom of the M32, on the Duke building. Those sort of collaborations are some of my favourites, anyway.

 

 

This bus is going to be heading to the north of the city, right?

 

It is, it’s going to spread the Upfest love to the North. Basically, the buses in South Bristol are going to be replaced next year, so to keep this one in service – that’s why this one has been chosen. It’s great that it’s going to the north of the city, it’ll also maybe then go out to Weston and a few other places as well. So, yeah – it’s great that it’s going everywhere and not just South Bristol.

 

Are there plans to spread more Upfest love North as Upfest Presents takes form?

 

Upfest has grown, from its original spot at the Tobacco Factory in 2008 during a wet, cold October afternoon with about fifty visitors; we have spread more throughout BS3. In more recent years, obviously, we’ve gone to Weston-Super-Mare for Weston Walls.

We do projects around the city, not necessarily as part of the actual Upfest festival, but yeah; we’ve done a recent one at the fire station in Redcliffe. We’ve done murals around the city, but the festival itself...it’s home is in South Bristol, and around North Street.

 

 

Are you an artist yourself?

 

Everybody’s an artist!

 

So true. Are you a street artist?

 

I started dibbling and dabbling right back at the beginning, which is one of the reasons why Upfest came about. I guess it was a bit because of the Banksy effect, I started doing a bit of stencilling – I realised that there were a lot better artists, and me and the team and our volunteers were really good at looking after and organising them.

 

So really, we use our creative skills in curating the artists and where they go – and let the artists do the big walls now.

 

 

Would you say the festival itself is your art?

 

Yeah, definitely.

 

If you were in charge of Bristol for a day, what would you do?

 

What would I do? I would...I guess I would paint the city. Every inch.

 

To see more from Upfest, head to their website - or to learn more about the bus and its design, check out our article here.

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Patrick Bate

Patrick is a filmmaker with so much Bristol in his blood the white blood cells are graffiti'd. Educated at the Northern Film School in Leeds, he’s returned home to be a Videographer and Reviewer for 365Bristol and BARBI. When he’s not messing about with cameras, he enjoys playing guitar, spending far too much time on tabletop RPGs, and being an awful snob about cider. Have a look at his work here, or get in touch at patrickb@365bristol.com.