Hundreds headed to Southend seafront and city centre at the weekend to watch 200 artists transform blank canvases and grey buildings into beautiful murals.

Southend’s free international street art festival returned on Friday, September 1, with artists creating inspiring work on building walls and large black cubes.

As the "largest street art festival in Europe", the weekend was hailed a success and an inspiration to the next generation of artists in the city.

Echo: One of the incredible finished piecesOne of the incredible finished pieces (Image: Matt Crow)

Leeds-based street artist Jamie Steward, 40, told the Echo on Friday: “When I’ve been painting, a lot of kids have been watching in amazement and have asked me lots of questions.

“To me, it seems this event has inspired them to go home and give art a go, which is just fantastic.

“Having events like City Jam is really important for us street artists because it enables people to see what we do and allows us to engage with the community to possibly help the next generation of artists.”

Echo: One of the finished wallsOne of the finished walls (Image: Lisa Titmarsh)

Initial pieces of art, murals, and statues started cropping up throughout last week, including a huge hoarding across Southend seafront. 

Over the weekend, dozens of artists joined forces to transform a long hoarding on the seafront, while a number of huge black boxes in the city centre were painted with an array of colourful creations.

Echo: Some of the incredible art on the long hoardingSome of the incredible art on the long hoarding (Image: Sian Hines)

This was the second annual City Jam festival, and it is hoped the event will return next year as well.