This summer, Ireland’s largest street art festival, Waterford Walls, brought its characteristic colour and energy to the southeast of Ireland. Part of The Walls Project, the creative festival is in its twelfth year and keeps on growing, now a major 10-day event on Ireland’s summer calendar. This year saw over fifty artists descend on Waterford to leave their colourful mark on its walls, creating large-scale murals that cover entire buildings and streets. This number is up from thirty artists in previous years, as the international fame of the festival continues to grow. This year, Festival Curator Gabe McGuinness received over 1,000 submissions from global artists, a nod to how desirable a place at Waterford Walls has become for creatives.  

General Paints Group has been a proud supporter of Waterford Walls from the very beginning. This partnership is extremely important to us and requires cross–collaboration from our different brands and teams. Muralists generally either use spray or masonry paint to create their art; every drop of masonry paint used at Waterford Walls is Colourtrend Weather paint and is supplied by our Cove & Co. Waterford store. It’s a project that truly brings together all the different areas of our business. As Waterford Walls continues to grow, so too do the efforts of our team. This year, Cove & Co. Waterford tinted and supplied approximately 600 litres of Colourtrend Weather paint for the festival. While walking around Waterford this year, we spotted our dark blue tins of Weather paint at ongoing murals throughout the city and loved seeing how artists continue to use our paint in new, innovative ways.

Photography by DMG Photography

As these murals use bright, bold colours, Cove & Co.’s care and expertise are crucial, allowing artists to achieve the exact colour that they’re looking for. Muralists send their sketches ahead of time and the teams from both Waterford Walls and Cove & Co. work to match the colour that the painter requires. This colour is then tinted into Colourtrend Weather paint.

We were onsite during this year’s festival, liaising with Waterford Walls organisers and meeting some of the participating artists. The energy was as high as always, with big names like Fintan Magee, Fio Silva and Aurora Campbell using Colourtrend Weather to bring life and vibrancy to buildings around the city. We caught up with the artists to see how they were experiencing the festival, and what they thought of our exterior paint.  

Fintan Magee is a highly regarded painter from NSW, Australia, who specialises in large-scale murals. Interestingly, the Sydney-based artist was back to paint over a mural that he painted with Waterford Walls back in 2017. The previous mural was also painted with Colourtrend Weather, and “was still in really good condition” according to the artist. This year, Fintan created a striking blue-toned mural featuring two male figures that comments on male friendship. The artist also mentioned that Ireland’s climate means you need an exterior paint that can really stick to the wall and withstand wind and the elements. Magee seemed to think Colourtrend Weather was up to the task.   

We met up with Fio Silva in Waterford’s Cultural Quarter as she was working on a vast mural of birds in flight. Silva’s new mural takes up the front of a building on O’Connell Street and injects vibrant blues, oranges and reds into the cityscape. Silva is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and works on murals that incorporate birds and other natural elements. Silva commented that the birds in this mural are inspired by birds that she has seen on her travels and while in Ireland. When we spoke to Fio, she told us that Colourtrend Weather paint was working really well, blending smoothly and providing vibrant, true-to-colour pigment. The artist was pleasantly surprised that she didn’t need to use as many layers of paint as she normally would, because of the paint’s vibrancy.  

Fintan Magee wasn’t the only Australian artist that we bumped into while in Waterford. Melbourne native Aurora Campbell was also out painting a striking new orange and purple mural in her signature botanical style. Campbell’s new painting covers an entire building in bold colour, so consistent coverage was key. Campbell mentioned that she appreciated how Cove & Co. and Colourtrend were able to find the right colours for her mural, considering how she likes to use bright, strong shades.  

Twelve years on, Waterford Walls continues to demonstrate the power of creativity in transforming urban spaces, and the importance of bringing communities together. At GPG, we believe colour has the power to make a lasting impact, and nowhere is that more evident than at Waterford Walls. We are proud to continue supporting this remarkable festival and the people behind it as it inspires locals and artists alike.  

Written by Niamh Tumbleton.