As the Benalla Street Art Festival 2025 kicked off, The News reporter Sharlene Baldo hit the streets to capture the excitement and diverse perspectives of local and out-of-town festival-goers alike.
Brita Wardell and Uma Wardell
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
“We’ve done the (Benalla) Art Gallery and we got to meet one of the artists in there and we actually love the big floral one in there,” Brita said.
“My father lived up here, but he passed away recently, so we’ve always followed the murals when they’re finished.
“It just so happened that it my Facebook page said the festival was on, and I thought it would be good to get here...
“We haven’t been into the city centre yet, but we’re just looking forward to walking around and seeing all the new murals, we’ve already seen a few just coming into town and here.”
Scott Adkins
“It brings pretty cool people to town,” he said.
“I’ve been working down here, just being able to watch that happen since Friday ... the artists are really cool.”
Katherine Barker
“Just seeing the community come alive, I suppose, and everyone come together and businesses benefiting from extra people being in the town,” she said.
“And seeing the art as well.”
Leo Barker
Leo Barker.
Photo by
Sharlene Baldo
How long have you been busking?
“Just over a year.”
How’s the Benalla Street Art Festival been?
“It’s been very fun.”
Do you have any favourite bands?
“I like Nirvana.”
Hank Engwerda
“I drive the town bus, so I go past quite a lot of them, and they’re quite eye-catching,” he said.
“There’s one down the bottom of Carrier St, where the bread factory is ... that looks pretty amazing.
“(The Benalla Street Art Festival) is a great drawcard for the town.
“And what it does is clean up a lot of places where you’d normally have the taggers and the graffiti artists, and it’s almost like they’re a no-go zone for them.”
Rachael O’Brien
Rachael O’Brien.
Photo by
Sharlene Baldo
“I just love the atmosphere, and I love that any type of person can enjoy the festival, and a lot of people that sometimes get intimidated by art don’t get intimidated,” she said.
“It’s really a welcome place, and it’s just a really fun weekend.
“I think it’s nice to come to the actual weekend where the artists are about, because they’re so approachable, they’ll talk to you ... things like that is really cool.”
