A Look at Downtown Jackson Bustling Before Bright Walls Began

This year marks the third year of Jackson's Bright Walls festival and after missing it in it's full glory in 2020, it's safe to say people are excited it is FINALLY happening again this weekend, September 16th through the 18th.

CLICK HERE for a preview of all this year's events, activities, artists and more.

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Leading up to the Festival

Bright Walls is a huge deal for Downtown Jackson and brings in a lot of customers to the local businesses. Almost every single one had the Bright Walls flyers in their windows or on display and you could feel everyone's excitement in the air.

Leading up to the festival, Bright Walls was consistently updating their Facebook to let people know what events would be going on, what art and artists they could see during the festival and more. One of those artists actually happens to be some familiar faces to the Mid-Michigan area, Greetings Tour!

If you remember, they were just in East Lansing this past Spring to do a detailed, "Greetings from East Lansing" mural:

Now, Jackson is getting one and they actually started earlier in the week on their mural on the outside wall of Jackson Coffee Co.

Jackson Bustling With Excitement & Activity

I knew the festival was getting underway on Thursday night, so I figured I would grab some coffee, check in on how the Greetings Tour folks were coming along and in the hopes of catching a glimpse of some other artists getting started.

When I got downtown at around 2 PM, I think I got there maybe a little too early as things were being set up and the only muralists I saw were the Greetings Tour artists but I still used it as some time to scope out the map, where murals would be and really soak in all the positive, happy energy surrounding the festival just hours before it began.

Downtown Jackson Prepares for Bright Walls

Bright Walls is an event where artists come from around the world to beautify the walls of buildings around Downtown Jackson. As the third year of the festival gets underway, here's a look at how excited the city was to get going!

First Night of the Festival (September 16th)

After perusing the Bright Walls preparations, it really looks like people are excited and ready for the festival to get underway, which luckily enough, they didn't have to wait long!

Bright Walls 2021 kicked off Thursday night with the "Bright Paws - Parade and Pageant" for some artsy doggies as well as the "Bright Walls Mural Walking Tour" where folks got to walk around downtown and see murals from years past as well as get more inside stories and information about them.

The festival goes until Sunday, September 18th with plenty to see and experience. If you find your way out and about in Jackson, see the beauty that is Downtown Jackson thanks to events like this.

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