The Vancouver Mural festival won't be holding its massive street party this summer, but the event will still bring art to the walls of the city, spreading beyond the Mount Pleasant 'hood where it all began.

That means 20 to 30 additional walls, bringing up to 50 new murals to the city.

Though the exact dates aren't set yet, VMF 2020 will start in mid-August and run for three weeks. (Watch for details in July.)

With this year's expansion to as-yet-unnamed neighbourhoods, more B.C. artists can participate; applications are open here to July 1.

The fest is by now well-acquainted with protocols for artists to create socially distanced works. This spring, VMF oversaw the painting of more than 60 temporary murals on boarded-up storefronts with its #MakeArtWhileApart project. 

Over the past five years, VMF has produced over 200 murals in Vancouver and the surrounding area.

“This is a time for cultural and economic healing and we are energized that VMF can be a platform for artists to connect with and support businesses and communities," VMF executive director David Vertesi said in the announcement today. "#MakeArtWhileApart brought these groups together in such a vivid way. It really drove home for us that Mount Pleasant wasn’t the only neighbourhood that needed Vancouver Mural Festival right now.”