IN PICTURES: Preparations ahead of this weekend's High Vis Fest in Birmingham

The city’s first High Vis Fest -a street culture extravaganza taking place in The Custard Factory – starts tomorrow, with intense preparations taking place for months.

The one-day urban festival is uniquely bringing together the worlds of comic book artists and heroes with street artists and urban music talent, all in and around the popular Digbeth venue.

The High Vis Fest has been created and organised by volunteer artists and educators to provide a mix of visual art to the public

While initial preparations have been on the down-low, these last few weeks have seen a very visible flurry of action along Digbeth’s High Street, a popular home for the city’s graffiti and visual art connoisseurs.

With local street artist PHILTH and several other high-profile creatives having already spent much of last week designing some stunning wall art in the area, many of them will be returning over the weekend to engage with the public, as they develop some special pieces to tie-in with the festival.

The High Vis Fest will be held at The Custard Factory and Zellig nearby, in Birmingham's Digbeth area — The High Vis Fest will be held at The Custard Factory and Zellig nearby, in Birmingham’s Digbeth area

This week also saw a massive mural of Spider-Man appear in Heath Mill Lane car park, to mark the launch of the PlayStation 4 game released internationally today. The painstaking creation is the work of London-based artist Jim Vision.

This explosion of artistic creativity will be showcasing alongside music, comic book culture and dance, as part of the city’s first-ever High Vis Fest.

The Custard Factory and surrounding Digbeth is a hive for creative freestyle art and music

What is the High Vis Festival?

High Vis Fest is a brand new one-day street art, dance, music and comics, exploding across The Custard Factory and Zellig complex on Saturday 8th September, from 11am till 9pm, before moving onto The Ruin for the official after party.

In what promises to be a vibrant, energetic showcase of the best and brightest of Birmingham’s arts community. A small group of local artists, bloggers and educationalists have come together to put on a free, family-friendly event with the hopes of make it an annual affair.

Already booked are established, internationally renowned artists such as Gent 48, Will Barras, and POSCA UK ambassador ThatBlokeWilson repping the street arts; with musical guest Lady Sanity headlining the High Vis Music Stage!

GraffitiArtist.com are a key organiser of High Vis Fest and will be heavily participating during the day

Then there’s comic book creators Lew Stringer (The Beano, Toxic) and Simon Myers (Doctor Who, Star Wars Insider) along with others in the Comichaus Comic Zone.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, with over 40 artists confirmed and painting throughout the day. Also, along for the day is street artist sensation Foka Wolf, bringing his own brand of socially conscious art to the day.

Along with dance battles, rap battles, food stalls and Sneaker Hawks bringing their flyest footwear with them on the day, the organisers – all voluntarily juggling this with day jobs – hope that it will be an event to remember and enjoyed by as many Brummies as possible. Keeping it fun, family-friendly and free.

Keeping attendees entertained throughout the day, the High Vis Fest Crew have promised workshops, drawing areas, live music, live drawing and a special showing of Spike Lees’ new critically acclaimed film, BlacKkKlansman, courtesy of Afroflux and The Mockingbird Cinema at the Custard Factory.

A special screening of Spike Lees’ new critically acclaimed film, Blackkklansman will be shown at The Mockingbird Cinema in the Custard Factory,, courtesy of Afroflux — A special screening of Spike Lees’ new critically acclaimed film, BlacKkKlansman will be shown at The Mockingbird Cinema in the Custard Factory, courtesy of Afroflux

Curated by volunteers and funded through a Kickstarter campaign – of which the Spider-Man mural was a reward – High Vis Fest is the brainchild of a team which includes David ‘Panda’ Brown, the owner of GraffitiArtist.com and one of the director’s of B-Side Hip Hop Festival.

Joining him in the endeavour is musician, comic connoisseur and Afrofuturist Juice Aleem, David ‘Footloose’ Russell of Break Mission, renowned street artist Simon ‘Wingy’ Wingfield from Getting Dirty Apparel, illustrator and educator Craig Earp, street artist and graphic designer Dan “Mose 78″ Lloyd; and comic book journalist and street art enthusiast Olly MacNamee.

A map of High Vis Fest who, what and where for 2018

Who’s on the line-up?

The comic, street and music artist line-up for High Vis Fest 2018

Here’s some photos of the blood, sweat and tears behind High Vis Fest:

#1

Artist Phill Blake - commonly known as PHILTH - creates his latest work in The Custard Factory for the High Vis Festival this weekend — Artist Phill Blake – aka PHILTH – creates his latest work in The Custard Factory for the High Vis Festival this weekend

#2

Street artist Phill Blake- known as PHILTH - has been spreading his creative magic in Digbeth once again to help prepare for the High Vis Fest — The final product after a long hard days work from artist PHILTH

#3

Another piece by PHILTH beside the Health Mill Lane car park in Digbeth, Birmingham

#4

A depiction of Birmingham's classic King Kong has appeared under the Digbeth arches this week, courtesy of artist Wingy — A depiction of Birmingham’s classic King Kong has appeared under the Digbeth arches this week, courtesy of artist Wingy

#5

Birmingham is hosting its first-ever High Vis Fest in Digbeth this weekend

#6

New street art has been appearing in Digbeth all week to coincide with the launch of Birmingham's first ever High Vis Fest — New street art has been appearing in Digbeth all week to coincide with the launch of Birmingham’s first ever High Vis Fest

#7

Spider-Man street art mural in Heath Mill Lane car park in Digbeth, Birmingham to launch the High Vis Fest

#8

Artist Jim Vision making final touches to his PS4 Spider-Man mural in Digbeth, Birmingham

#9

Visibly stunning publicity for the High Vis Fest along Digbeth High Street in Birmingham

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Artist N4T4 painting at The Custard Factory, in preparation for Birmingham's first-ever High-Vis Street Culture Festival — Artist N4T4 painting at The Custard Factory, in preparation for Birmingham’s first-ever High-Vis Street Culture Festival

#11

Artist N4T4 being photographed by Darren Quinton at The Custard Factory, while spray painting art for Birmingham's first-ever High-Vis Street Culture Festival — Artist N4T4 being photographed by Darren Quinton at The Custard Factory, while spray painting art for Birmingham’s first-ever High-Vis Street Culture Festival

#12

Artist N4T4's final artwork after a day of grafting in Digbeth for the High Vis Festival — Artist N4T4’s final artwork after a day of grafting in Digbeth for the High Vis Festival

#13

The team of volunteers getting ready to steward and help out at High Vis Fest 2018

#14

Artist Jim Vision working on the large-scale PS4 Spider-Man mural in Digbeth in Birmingham

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The finished PS4 Spider-Man mural in Digbeth, created by artist Jim Vision from London — The nearly finished PS4 Spider-Man mural in Digbeth, created by artist Jim Vision from London

#16

Renowned street artists N4T4 (left) and Simon ‘Wingy’ Wingfield (right), both co-organising High Vis Fest 2018

#17

Artists N4T4 in front of artwork he began creating for this weekend's High Vis Fest — Artists N4T4 in front of artwork he began creating for this weekend’s High Vis Fest

#18

Locals hanging in front of the new High Vis Fest street art by PHILTH (Phill Blake)

#19

Multi-coloured spray cans on display at The Graffiti Artist store in The Custard Factory, ahead of High Vis Fest activities in and around the venue

#20

The Custard Factory in Digbeth has been prepped and is ready for hundreds of visitors on Saturday for the High Vis Fest event

Watch artist and High Vis Fest organiser Craig Earp talk about the festival:

High Vis Fest will be exploding across The Custard Factory complex on Saturday 8th September, from 11am till 9pm, before moving onto The Ruin for the official after party.