Walking down the street of Playa can become itself an activity. Painting with stunning colors, drawing by artists from around the world, and giant works of art on building. Are you ready to learn more about that phenomenon?

A Mondial destination for street art.

Urban art has started to expand significantly in the early 2010s. Mexican found in graffiti and mural painting a form of expression, which reach beyond the country after. The streets of Playa del Carmen have become a playground for all the street artists of the world. This creates a new appeal for tourism. Visitors are getting impressed by the murals' paints. It gives charm to the city, distinguishing itself from other cities of the country or the Caribbean area. The paintings embellish the streets, and they can be found everywhere: on the 5th avenue, in touristic places, also in more impoverished areas.

With the development of real estate in Playa del Carmen and the city notoriety in general, more constructions are built every year. Which give to artist new “canvas” for their art constantly. The city is still fairly accessible, not an expensive destination. Murals painting can also hide the signs of time on some buildings. Playa del Carmen became the perfect place for a street artist, a destination of sea, sun, and sand, with always a place to paint and tourists to admire their art.

Legality and business

In Mexico, there are two types of street art. The ones classify as graffiti, which are illegal. And the ones classifies as Murals, which are legal. A painting can look like graffiti and still be a legal one. Artists can get authorization to paint on the street, they need consent from the owners of the wall to paint. A common thing happening in playa is an agreement between artist and business owner. You will find a lot of paintings on hotels, restaurants, clubs, and bars. The owner can hire a street artist but also pass trade, a painting in exchange for publicity of their social media.

The Dreamers Art Festival

Create in 2015, that festival was a project by two Women, Veronica Dupré et Nadya Romo. Considering art as essential in human life and Playa del Carmen as a city of dreamers, they create this festival intending to offer locals and tourists a new stage for contemporary art. The vision is to promote culture and education, also raising awareness and generate revenue by attracting tourism. The festival happened on the second week of November. It was composed of a multitude of activities: individual and collective exhibitions, bicitours (tours on bikes), lectures, and workshops. Through this festival, some of the most known painting has been created. The festival didn’t show activities since 2019.

Covid-19 has also been an inspiration for artists lately.

To discover the beautiful tags and murals of playa del carmen, you can take a bike and visit the city's visual culture. You can find those painting on 5th avenue, CTM avenue, and on buildings along the federal highway

Paintings on this article are by @ixtagonzalez, @dazz_lee1, @senkoeone, Hendrik Beikirch, @martin_ferreyra, @mrdkdenz, and @theanunaki.

Do you want to take a ride through Playa’s beautiful art street? What was your favorite painting after your trip? Do you have a question? Let us know in the comment box below!