Cheo creates 'Mr Graff' for Upfest in Bristol • Inspiring City

As part of their 45^th anniversary celebrations. The team behind the Mr Men and Little Miss characters have teamed up with Upfest. Europe’s largest live street and urban art festival. To introduce the latest member of the family ‘Mr Graff’.

Designed by Bristol graffiti artist CHEO. The blue character can be spotted armed with a spray can and donning a baseball cap as he paints the city. Cheo’s signature ‘Bee’ sits with Mr Graff, keeping an eye on proceedings.

At the event, the character will be sprayed alongside other Mr. Men and Little Miss characters to create a giant mural during the three days of the festival from 23rd to 25th July 2016. A limited edition print of Mr Graff will also be available as a reward on the Upfest crowd funding campaign which has until 17 May 2016 to reach it’s goal of £15,000 to fund the festival.

Introducing Mr Graff — Mr Graff created for Upfest by Cheo

Mr Graff by Cheo

The campaign is the second time in its eight year history that crowdfunding has been used to fund the festival. It helps the team to pay for the infrastructure needed in order to manage the 30,000 expected visitors. It also means that the artists might be able to be provided with more than just materials to paint with.

Stephen Hayles, Upfest founder and gallery owner explains; “We are very honoured to be collaborating with Mr Men and Little Miss and Cheo to celebrate the 45^th anniversary with a Mr Graff character for Upfest 2016, it really shows how the festival and the different art disciplines are evolving.”

Graffiti-Kings-Artist-Cheo-Shaun the sheep — Cheo was featured by Graffiti Kings as the number one in their 10 of the Best British Graffiti Artists you should know about

Mr Men and Little Miss

Cheo meanwhile said “As a young kid, I remember seeing the name Roger Hargreaves. Watching the Mr Men and Little Miss cartoons and reading the books along with every child that grew up in the 70s. As well as celebrating the 45^th anniversary. It’s also a great accomplishment for the street art and graffiti scene to work with Mr Men and Little Miss in doing something so momentous.”

Upfest is always good. But this year promises to be the biggest yet with over 300 artists. Flocking to the street art city of Bristol from over 40 countries. Including the likes of Bristol favourites Inkie and of course Cheo; international artists such as Dutch 3D painter Leon Keer, the anamorphic Portuguese artist Odeith and Argentina’s Martin Ron; as well as artists we’ve featured regularly on Inspiring City such as ATM, Louis Masai, Hannah Adamaszek, Mr Cenz and Zina.

The Upfest festival is the largest live painting event in Europe. It takes place in Bristol from 23-25 July 2016, more information can be found on the festival’s website www.upfest.co.uk. To donate to the campaign or to grab an exclusive Mr Graff print visit www.fundsurfer.com/upfest.