Wall to Wall Festival: Australia’s ever expanding Outdoor Gallery
People enjoying the ambience at Wall to Wall Festival Mordi Village
By Shaun Hossack, Founder, Juddy Roller
How a regional street art festival became a national movement in public art, tourism, and placemaking.
For the last decade, Wall to Wall Festival has reshaped how Australia thinks about public art in regional towns. What started in 2015 as a bold experiment in my home town of Benalla, a nondescript small town Victoria, has grown into a nationally recognised, touring street art festival that brings world-class muralists into towns and suburbs across the country.
Today, Wall to Wall is widely considered Australia’s leading outdoor street and urban art gallery experience. A festival that transforms communities, increases social cohesion and opportunities for young people, and turns regional towns and suburbs into ready-made cultural destinations.
Here’s how our street art festivals became a blueprint for placemaking in regional Australia.
A Street Art Festival With Purpose
Artist Bidju in front of his mural, speaking with members of the public. The artists always take their time to engage in meaningful ways with community members and festival goers
Wall to Wall is not about bringing random art into a town; it’s about creating work with meaning and resonance with the community.
From day one, the mission has been simple:
Art should be created with communities, not delivered to them.
Every Wall to Wall festival is co-designed with:
Local councils
Community groups
Traditional Owners
Schools and youth organisations
Local businesses
Residents who know their town best
This collaborative process ensures each mural not only looks beautiful but also means something to the people who live there.
The result?
Authentic large-scale artworks that reflects the identity, history and stories of the communities that host them.
The Ripple Effect: What Happens After the Festival
A local volunteer help attendees get the most out of the event.
One of the reasons Wall to Wall Festival has become so influential is that its impact doesn’t end when the paint dries, and the artists pack up their brushes and go home. The murals remain for years, creating long-term value for communities. Creating an ROI that’s hard to match with any other festival model.
Here’s what towns across Australia have consistently experienced:
1. Tourism That Drives Real Visitation
Wall to Wall murals quickly become part of local tourism identity, featured in TV and Radio, newspapers, brochures, tourism campaigns, social media, and national art trails such as the Silo Art Trail.
People travel specifically to see the art.
And they come back again and again.
Searches for “street art trails” and “mural tourism” in Australia have surged since we created Australia’s first Silo Art Trail.
Wall to Wall takes months to produce and weeks to execute, but leaves a legacy for decades to come.
2. Economic Growth for Local Businesses
Where murals go, people go. Where people go, money flows.
Art becomes a form of economic and tourism infrastructure.
Research from regional councils shows that street art festivals generate a strong economic return, often outperforming traditional tourism investments, and offer ROIs that last far longer than any single campaign ever could.
3. Youth Engagement That Inspires Confidence and Careers
For young people, watching a large-scale mural come to life in their own town is transformative.
It shows them that:
Creativity is a viable future
Art has a real-world impact.
Their community values culture
Workshops, artist talks, and other forms of community engagement spark long-term passion and often lead young artists to pursue their own creative paths. Kids need mentors, ideas, and support. And in regional areas, these things can be hard to come by. Wall to Wall provides them all.
4. Long-Term Cultural Legacy
Music and art festivals disappear after a weekend.
Wall to Wall leaves a permanent cultural asset. Surpassing any other form of investment, a small town or suburb could make in the cultural landscape.
Each mural is:
A landmark
A story told or interpreted
A beacon for photographers and tourism
Part of a larger nationwide art trail movement
These works become part of the town’s identity. Something that they can call their own and be proud of.
A National Movement in Public Art and Placemaking
Artist Minna Leunig paints her mural as festival goers look on in awe.
Over the last decade, Wall to Wall Festival has expanded beyond its origins, bringing its unique model to regional towns and suburban precincts across Australia.
The festival has:
Produced hundreds of murals
Worked with leading Australian and international street artists
Helped regional towns redefine their identity
Become a signature example of placemaking through art.
Developed frameworks now used by councils nationwide.
From Benalla to Byron Bay, street art has become one of Australia’s most powerful tools for community transformation.
Why the Wall to Wall Model Works
Our award-winning tour guide takes crowds of tour participants through the festival, giving them the inside scoop.
Public art fails when it is disconnected from people.
Even more so in regional areas or those with little to no access to contemporary art movements and the broader art world.
Wall to Wall succeeds because it is built on relationships, trust, collaboration, and reflection.
The model works because it:
Builds genuine community ownership
Connects local stories with global artistic talent
Enhances public spaces with long-lasting placemaking benefits
Attracts tourism and economic activity
Leaves communities with cultural assets, not fleeting events
It has become a trusted, repeatable method for reshaping towns through creativity and identity.
Why the Wall to Wall Model Works
As Australia faces the challenge of revitalising regional towns, aligning with programs like the Silo Art Trail and Wall to Wall Festival proves something powerful to the world, and something I knew intuitively growing up in a country town.
Art isn’t decoration - it’s transformation. Even more so in remote and regional towns, where artistic culture can be harder to come by.
Wall to Wall is Australia’s living, touring, outdoor gallery, and after a decade of impact, its most exciting chapters are still to come.
If your town is ready to go on its own artistic journey, you can get in touch and book a call to find out how we can help transform your town into a destination.
If you would like to learn more about how public art impacts communities, click the link below
