An arty weekend in … Southend-on-Sea, Essex

The seaside town hosts a street-art festival and the world’s first digital art park, while nearby Leigh is packed with galleries

Make the trip for …
Southend-on-Sea, a traditional British resort, may not be an obvious art destination, but it is an emerging street-art destination. Southend City Jam, its inaugural street art festival, took place last September. More than 100 local and international artists created murals for the city centre and seafront, and many are now permanent fixtures. This year’s event is set for 1-3 September. There is a map of the art at southendcityjam.co.uk, or for a quick fix, the railway bridge over the High Street has three excellent examples. The LuminoCity light festival also launched last year, and returned last month.

Now what?
The free Beecroft Art Gallery has a collection of 2,000 works donated to the town by Walter Beecroft, a local solicitor, in 1952. His tastes were eclectic: 17th-century Dutch masters, an early work by Constable, a Jacob Epstein bronze. The gallery also houses Southend’s fashion collection – including 500 bathing suits – while the Jazz Centre downstairs hosts live music on Saturdays.