The Benalla Street Art Festival returns from 11-13 April 2025, transforming the historic streets of Benalla (founded in 1848 on Taungurung Country, some 212 kilometres north-east of Melbourne) into ‘Regional Victoria’s largest urban art exhibition’.
First held in 2015, and originally run by the Benalla Street Art collective (a small group of art-loving Benalla locals) before the local Council took the Festival in-house from 2024 onwards, Benalla Street Art Festival has significantly grown the number of permanent artworks visible throughout Benalla.
Already, 85 large-scale murals await discovery throughout the regional Victorian city; this year’s Festival will increase that number by unveiling 10 new murals across its three days, which also feature live music and related festivities.
Benalla Street Art Festival 2025 features new works by Archibald Packing Room Prize-winner Adnate and celebrated muralist Claire Foxton.
Melbourne duo Creature Creature’s Asian-Western fusion work will also be displayed, as will the geometric and optical artworks of Spencer Harrison and Drez. There will also be new works by MEGGS, Aurora Campbell, HWJ, Gus Leunig and Yan Candy Ng.
The 2025 Festival is once again curated by Eddie Zammit, who says, “It’s great to be back in Benalla to lead the 2025 Street Art Festival. I’m passionate about transforming spaces with innovative art installations – on walls of all shapes and sizes.”
The Festival’s program reflects diverse styles and stories, from large-scale murals to intimate installations. Visitors can witness artists in action as they create new works, join guided tours led by experts and engage directly with creators through a series of intimate artist talks at the Benalla Cinema and Art Gallery.
Bess Nolan-Cook, Chief Executive Officer, Tourism North East, adds: “We welcome all visitors, art enthusiasts or anyone looking for a rich cultural experience to join us on the streets of Benalla from 11 April. This is one of regional Victoria’s most anticipated cultural events, where streets come alive and crowds gathering to watch blank walls transform into stunning murals – it’s great to see a community come together and put a regional town on the cultural map.”
Marketed as the gateway to the High Country and also part of Kelly Country, Benalla is already home to the Benalla Art Gallery and the Benalla Costume and Kelly Museum, where visitors can view the bright green sash – now stained with the bushranger’s blood – with which the young Ned Kelly was presented at 10 years of age after he rescued his seven-year-old friend Dick Shelton from drowning in the rain-swollen Hughes Creek at Avenal.
Kelly wore the sash beneath his iconic armour during the ill-fated siege of Glenrowan in June 1880.
Read: Street art is beautifying towns and landscapes across the country
Benalla is also well-located for visitors seeking information on the North-East Victoria Silo Art Trail, one of several such solo trails connecting small rural towns throughout Victoria, from Kaniva in the west to Goorambat in the east.
Benalla Street Art Festival runs over Friday 11 to Sunday 13 April. Visit the Festival website for program details.
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