Lagos Street Art Festival brings creativity to public space

(7 Nov 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ++MUSIC AT SOURCE++ ASSOCIATED PRESS Lagos, Nigeria - 7 November 2026 1. Various of street artist paintings at the festival 2. Close of a street artist 3. Various of street artist paintings at the festival 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Abiola Peter, street artist: “This street art festival is actually an opportunity for me to network, and it's actually a good eye opener for we the youth, for us to come together and actually bond together and see how creative we can be to the society also.” 5. Various of Peter painting 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Abiola Peter, street artist: “The concept behind my painting depicts the green environment, longevity around us, and growth. Then also our own personal inputs, which is 'what we say, what we see, and what we hear.' So, as such, we, in this painting, it depicts that you should not say evil, speak no evil to one another, and you should never hear evil about your environment also.” 7. Various of street artist Michelle Masete 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Michelle Masete, 15, street artist: “Festivals like this are really nice because they celebrate the power of art. Art itself evokes emotions; it challenges perspectives. Art for me is not what the eyes can see but what the heart can feel. And I'm pretty sure so many artists here would also agree with that as well. So, these types of events are really good to gain inspiration and to see different artworks.” 9. Various of street artist paintings at the festival 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Adaora Mbelu, creative council member, Lagos Street Art Festival: “A lot of these artists don't have the ability to; the galleries won't take them. And so, we're giving them that opportunity to actually allow them to express their creativity, one, but also to be able to have a platform where they can have visibility and also commercialise their work.” 11. Wide of the street art festival location 12. Various of street artist paintings at the festival 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Adaora Mbelu, creative council member, Lagos Street Art Festival: “I think it's really important for us to understand that, yes, we're doing this out of here, but street art has the ability to just put Lagos on a global map, like all around the world; street art festivals are huge. People travel from all across the world to attend those festivals. And we want to be able to also boost tourism, get people to actually fly in. We have people who have actually flown in from the UK for this festival, and I think that's just been beautiful. It shows what is possible.” 14. Mid of street artist at the festival 15. Various of a break-dancing performance at the street art festival STORYLINE: With spray cans and brushes in hand, artists worked on medium-sized canvases, bringing their murals to life as artists and creative enthusiasts gathered in Lagos on Saturday for the second edition of the Lagos Street Art Festival. The festival is an event aimed at making art more accessible by taking it beyond galleries and into public spaces and engage with wider audiences. One of the festival's creative council member, Adaora Mbelu, said art should not be restricted to galleries but made accessible to the wider public. “The galleries won't take them. And so, we're giving them that opportunity to actually allow them to express their creativity, one, but also to be able to have a platform where they can have visibility and also commercialise their work,” said creative council member, Adaora Mbelu. AP video shot by Dan Ikpoyi =========================================================== Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/eeadc1af4625456097eb2e8916921b1d