Quick! Get down to Josephine Avenue's Urban Art festival - a visual feast with a party atmosphere

Local artist Matt Crump and some of his wonderful, intricate digital collages at the Urban Art Festival in Josephine Avenue, Brixton. Some of his work uses 3D - hence the specs on the young connoisseur, left.

If you live where I do, and you want decent community events, you go two miles east to Brixton, where this weekend Josephine Avenue is holding its annual Urban Art festival, just off Brixton Hill,

In fact this is the fourteenth year of this unique combination of street party, urban graffiti artist's spray-in and open-air art show. Forget Affordable Art, Bayswater Road and The RA Summer show - this is where you'll see (and, if you like, buy) new art from over 200 painters, print-makers, mixed-media artists, photographers and craftspeople, eat some delicious home-cooked food and drink a beer or coffee in someone's front garden, and chat.

Kevin McMayo with some of his gorgeous
paintings at the 14th annual Urban Art festival
in Brixton's Josephine Avenue

Having cycled up and down this lovely street at least once a week over many years, I'm ashamed to say this was the first time I've been around on the right weekend for the event.

I went for  a quick look and stayed for more than three hours. I spoke to as many of the artists as I could,  and I enjoyed the whole thing enormously. I've never felt more included in any public event. The people living in this very beautiful, very green crescent half way up the Brixton hill have the good fortune to live in one of the most delightful streets in south London, and they have the generosity to share it with everyone.

Many the artists are local, others  come from far away to join in this unique event.  Photographer and mixed-media artist, Estelle Vincent, had come up from Bournemouth to exhibit her beautiful images of Beirut, London, Bournemouth, Hastings and elsewhere.

Another photographer with an amazing double-exposure technique was A J Silistrie, who was also showing some gritty local street shots in black and white.

And I loved the street photography of Francesca Brecciaroli, that wonderful shot up to peoples' feet crossing a glass panel in New York.

Others, like Matt Crump, who specialises in strange, sometimes 3D prints made from hundreds and even thousands of separate scans of old book and magazine illustrations, have become more and more local over the years of the event.

Akeisha Walters with some of her
 beautiful prints

The work of two artists in particular seemed to burn with brilliant colour in the strong sunshine of the first day.

Akeisha Walters' small digital prints had a mesmeric, stylised look, somewhere between ancient Egyptian  paintings and 1920s fashion illustrations - glorious in the sunshine, they'd certainly be a tonic in the more normal London gloom.

Nearby Kevin  McMayo was exhibiting his large, gorgeous oil paintings, memories of the luxuriant greens and golds of Trinidad, on this day enhanced by the darker deep greens of Josephine Avenue's Lime trees in sunshine.

There were so many more excellent artists there, I wish I'd had more time (and every)  to speak to more, I hope some of the images that follow might whet your appetite.

The event was even more amazing when you realise that only a week ago Leander Road, which leads off Josephine Ave, held its own street party last week - and that was also open to all and crammed with outsiders, hungry for some street music and  dance action.

Always thought this was a desirable and magical corner of South London - now I know for sure. It runs until 6pm today so get along there and browse and buy!

Dazzled by the art in Josephine Avenue