Hoodoo Mural Festival returns Saturday in downtown Amarillo

The Hoodoo Art foundation comes together with community partnerships to host its third annual Hoodoo Mural Festival on Saturday, Sept. 30 in the heart of downtown Amarillo on historic Polk Street, with gates opening at 3 p.m.

The event, open to all ages, and will include live music, children’s activities, a silent disco, food trucks, and local vendors. The Hoodoo Mural Festival celebrates the completion of murals created as a part of a citywide urban beautification collaboration between artists and business owners.

As stated in a news release, the project entails six large-scale murals, five contemporary murals, and 10 community murals throughout downtown. The large-scale murals are located in various spots downtown in the city. Trav & Emjay’s mural will be at 616 S. Harrison; Alli K’s mural will be located at 1220 S. Polk; Jeremy Biggers mural is at 411 S. Fillmore; Ariel Parrow & Sean Hamilton’s collaboration is located at 816 S. Van Buren; and JEKS & Malcolm Byers are painting at 515 S. Polk.

According to Andrew Hall, founder of the Hoodoo Art Foundation, some of this year's murals include not only some new mural locations, but also the recreation of two previously established murals in Amarillo.

"This year, we are repainting two of the big walls that we painted in 2019. We are always looking to expand, but as some murals need a freshening up, we will repaint them," Hall said.

"What's neat is what free public art does to kind of bring us together and start conversations about art. When we started this project, and it really took off after COVID, we needed something to get us going again. And art is a special thing, that in this time when we are all so divisive, I think it helps people come together and beautify Amarillo," Hall added.

Among the artists constructing this year’s murals are Los Angeles-based muralists, Trav & Emjay. Their work balances graffiti and fine art, which has given them the opportunity to create murals across the country and work on corporate commissions for brands like Google and Budweiser.

Additional artists included in the mural lineup are Alli Koch, who has created large-scale floral murals across the state of Texas, and Jeremy Biggers, an award winning artist whose style incorporates his personal experience and the way it shapes his perspective of the world. Local artists Malcolm Byers and Jon Revett, as well as students from Blank Spaces Murals, are also set to return to the festival.

In addition, local sounds will be featured in the mix of live music during Saturday's festivities.

"This year, we are really trying to showcase our local musicians by dedicating a stage to them, our Street Toyota stage," Hall said. "We are just really excited this year to say we have a dedicated second stage for all of our local talent that is here. ... The music this year is top notch; we really worked hard to curate this fun energy till the end. Our headliner LP Giobbi just won producer of the year for BJ Magazine. I think in a few years, people will be amazed she was here in Amarillo, because she's a really up and coming producer."

On the two concert stages showcasing national and local musical acts, headlining will be LP Giobbi, a DJ, producer, and pianist whose debut album, "Light Places" released in May. Returning Hoodoo staple Kaelin Ellis, a multi-platinum music producer who creates modern jazz, electronic, and hip-hop beats, will also perform. Others in the lineup include Giacomo Turra, an Italian musician who creates funk and jazz melodies and recently released his single "Closer" in April, and Amarillo singer Cody Jasper, who combines southern-infused rock, country, blues, and soul to create his own unique sound.

“The musicians in this year’s lineup have a great show planned this weekend. The festival offers a wide range of music genres and styles that everyone can enjoy. We’re even more excited that the festival has added a second local stage, doubling the music options for people to check out,” Will Krause, producer of Hoodoo Mural Festival stated in a news release.

This year, the festival partnered with 10 local nonprofits to create the Kid’s Village. Each nonprofit will provide children-friendly activities like car painting, spin art, and more. In addition, Little Bee’s Playhouse is offering child care during the festival for a small fee, so both parents and kids are able to enjoy the festival.

Hall said the festival wanted to offer a space for the children attendees and reached out to local nonprofits to offer an art-filled fun time. As a part of the Kid's Village, the Amarillo Museum of Art will provide a car for the children to paint on that will be on display.

This week, the Hoodoo Mural Festival, in partnership with local businesses and nonprofits, will hold promotional events leading up to the festival on Saturday. Details of the events are listed below:

Reserve by H. Reese Beddingfield Pop-Up Gallery

Date: Thursday, Sept. 28

Time: The show is open to the public from 6:30 to 8 p.m., with a VIP showing happening from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Location: 2614 Wolflin Village #2614

Details: The festival’s artists will be showcased in a pop-up art gallery hosted by one of Amarillo’s premier art galleries, Reserve by H. Reese Beddingfield. The gallery will feature artwork from this year’s Hoodoo Muralist lineup and will have prints available for purchase.

Amarillo Film Society screening of Exit Through the Gift Shop

Date: Friday, Sept. 29

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Sharpened Iron Studios, 1314 S Polk St.

Details: The Amarillo Film Society will be screening "Exit Through the Gift Shop," a documentary film directed by the street artist Banksy. It tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a Los Angeles creative who, over the course of several years, filmed a number of street artists while working; this movie features Banksy along with other famous graffiti artists. This event is free and open to the public. The event will feature live music and offerings from local food trucks. Along with the screening, attendees will be able to tour Sharpened Iron Studios, with tours beginning at 5:30 p.m.The location of the event is directly across from one of Hoodoo festival’s artist mural sites, Allie K, who will be painting on the Innovation Outpost wall in the shared breezeway with Sharpened Iron Studios.

General admission tickets for the Hoodoo Mural Festival can be purchased for $40 online ahead of time, and $45 the day of the festival at the gate. They are available for purchase online at the festival's website, www.hoodoomural.com .

The gate will open for attendees at 3 p.m. Saturday. All attendees are subject to security bag checks; view the festival’s FAQ page for more information about the event’s guidelines. The entrance of the main gate is at 516 S Polk St., at the corner of 5th and Polk streets.

There is no designated parking specified for the event; parking will be available throughout downtown for the festival. Hoodoo encourages attendees to carpool or ride share to the event.

For more information, visit them online or follow the festival on their social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) at @hoodoomural to keep up with the latest updates.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Enjoy art, music and more at Hoodoo Mural Festival Sept. 30