Christmas in Derby features an urban edge for 2021, with vibrant street art by some of the city’s top graffiti artists joining the more traditional festive favourites including a Christmas Market, colourful lights, and a Gingerbread Trail.
Once again, at the heart of the celebrations will be the city’s new-look Derby Market Place, already an award-winning hit earlier this year as an al fresco meeting-and-eating venue in the summer and an outdoor and indoor events space in the autumn.
Back with even more entertainment, the Market Place is dressed for the season and now home to Derby’s free-entry Festive Outdoor Market, which returns this year with a host of festive stalls every day until 24 December.
But adding an urban edge, the Market Place is surrounded by winter themed festive street art by local Graffiti artists, curated by Derby-based Baby People, the UK’s first dedicated Hip Hop school.
The eye-catching murals, featuring everything from stylised Christmas puddings to colourful candy canes, adds a vibrant seasonal spin to the popular attraction.
Aimed at helping transform the city into a bright and attractive place to visit in the run-up to Christmas, the street art is part of a major push to breathe new life into the city centre of Derby, which is among the eight successful bids through to the longlist of places in the running to be UK City of Culture 2025.
The graffiti has been overseen by music and arts development organisation, Baby People, which works with young people of all ages who struggle to engage in mainstream education.
Providing workshops and educational classes in music production, creative writing & lyrics, breakdance, aerosol and graffiti art, among others, all tutors work professionally in their field.
Graffiti and aerosol art offers a way for young people to express themselves, and Baby People has run several projects aimed at channelling young people’s time and investment into artwork schemes, which has had a dramatic effect on the way young people see, and treat, their environment (www.babypeople.co.uk).
While the Christmas themed street art will only remain in place until the end of the festive period, more graffiti artwork is set to brighten up other parts of the city in 2022.
Derby City Council will be working with Baby People on projects to create more street art, this time on vacant property, giving young people another stake in the transformation of the city.
For more details about Christmas in the city, visit www.visitderby.co.uk/festivederby
EDITOR’S NOTES
Derby is among the eight successful bids through to the longlist of places in the running to be UK City of Culture 2025, with the winner to be revealed in early 2022.