Art on the Street returns to downtown Guelph for 23rd year with new mural festival

An open-air festival of creativity and community returned to Guelph, Ont.

Downtown Guelph’s signature open-air art fair returned this weekend, bringing with it a day full of creativity, community and colour — and a brand-new mural festival.

Art on the Street, now in its 23rd year, took over Quebec Street on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event featured 77 artists and a mix of ceramics, textiles, paintings, photography, jewelry and more — all presented directly by the artists.

“So the original concept for Art on the Street was an opportunity for artists to come and display their work and then for people to come and talk to them about that, to the artists that are on site and to talk about their process and people who are interested in art and people who want to buy art,” said Sam Jewell, event co-organizer. “And then obviously you have another level of people who just want to see pretty things, beautification and historic downtown.”

This year’s featured poster artist was Heejung Shin, whose work will appear in promotional materials throughout the city.

New for 2025 was the launch of the Guelph Mural Festival. Five muralists created large-scale artworks live on-site in the parking lot between RBC and The Bookshelf. The murals will be installed throughout downtown Guelph.

“We deliberately chose some Indigenous artists because it’s National Indigenous Peoples Day,” said Jewell. “So recognizing what they’re creating on site that will be displayed somewhere downtown after this event. So live art painting, which is really awesome.”

For glass artist and jewelry vendor Emma Gerard, this marked her 13th year setting up shop at the event.

“It’s been 20 years since I’ve been working with glass and I have been on Art on the Street since 2010,” she said. “I think Guelph has always been so supportive of the arts. Again, that’s another reason I keep coming back. I know even if the economy is maybe a little bit slower, people are still shopping handmade here.”

The day also included a range of family-friendly activities. The Children’s Art Factory hosted a Mini Makers Market at Simply Wonderful Toys, where young creators were able to sell their handmade goods in lemonade-stand-style booths. The Guelph Public Library ran outdoor art activities and offered sign-ups for its Summer Reading Club.

Over in St. George’s Square, Play with Clay led hands-on pottery activities. The Suzuki String School of Guelph were on-site with their popular musical “petting zoo” for kids.

“We want it to feel like they’ve had a fun and engaging experience so it’s a really important thing for downtown Guelph to have this event,” said Jewell.

Art on the Street is co-presented by the Downtown Guelph Business Association and has grown into Guelph’s largest outdoor art exhibition and sale since it began in 2003.