An eye-catching mural celebrating pioneering female American aviator Amelia Earhart has wowed festival goers at Derry’s Foyle Maritime Festival.
The festival, which ran from Thursday to Sunday, featured, Carnival of Colours, Tall Ships, the Legenderry Food Village, maritime markets, and a wide range of water-based activities.
It is believed the festival brought an estimated150,000 visitors to the quayside in Derry.
A flavour of fantastic murals being created in Derry as part of Peaball Street Art Collective's 'Get Up' initiative at @dcsdcouncil's @foylemaritime.
— Catherine McGinty (@CathMcGin_Tea) June 30, 2024
Amazing works by Friz (Bangor) & Dan Leo (Kilkenny) are featured in @irish_news video, from Lower Clarendon Street in the city. pic.twitter.com/K10Ko6ukcJ
It also encompassed the Get Up street art initiative, which saw North Carolina artist, Jeks, adorn a wall of the North West Regional College, with images of Amelia Earhart and the red Lockheed Vega 5B, in which she flew across the Atlantic on May 20, 1932.
The showcase mural, believed to be the tallest in the north, is situated on Boating Club Lane and Queen’s Quay.
It was painted in homage to Earhart – the first woman to fly the Atlantic – who accidentally landed in the Ballyarnett area of Derry, in a field belonging to the Gallagher family.
Nicole McElhinney of the Amelia Earhart Legacy Association said the organisation is “absolutely delighted” with the mural.
Jeks said he was delighted to be invited to the city by Peaball Street Art Collective which organised Get Up to paint the mural.
“I loved the idea of painting Amelia Earhart, an American who flew across the Atlantic and landed here in Derry, so I designed the mural, and I am just freestyling these clouds at the minute.
“Although I am usually 100ft up in the air painting, I have had tonnes of interaction with people passing down the quay. So far everyone seems to love it, especially the kids,” he said.
Praising the business community for helping to fund Get Up, Donal Ó Doherty from Peaball said the group wanted to “animate our river front, bring colour and vibrance”.
He added: “We’ve got nearly 30 local, national and international artists here this weekend and we are getting amazing feedback from the public.
“This part of the world in unique. We all know what a mural is. We have a fantastic history of murals. It is a great way for peoples’ voices to get heard. We are continuing a tradition, and it is reflective of a different time.
“I think it is important we keep our murals of the past and we embrace the murals of the future because you can get a visual representation of what happened here over the years.”
