Paint Louis is an annual global community event happening over the American holiday Labor Day bringing together people practicing all four elements of hip hop including graffiti, breakdancing, rapping and DJs to St. Louis for three days of creation and performance.

The event is well known as the largest gathering of graffiti writers who have permission to legally paint the Mississippi River flood wall, along the Mississippi river all south of the Gateway Arch, deemed the "longest mural in the world" by Guinness Records.

[3] Two of the original committee members decided to initiate the event formally again with the support of city officials.

[3][9][10] By 2013, Paint Louis hosted 300 artists and had around 1,000 people attend and took place earlier than Labor Day on June 21–23, 2013.

[3][10][11] Paint Louis 2014 took place from August 29, 2014 until September 1, 2014 with 200 artists, 1 mile of wall, over 4 days.

[17] Paint Louis 2016 took place Labor Day 2016 and was not cancelled as had been predicted in 2015 and consisted of International artists.

[26] Co-founder John Harrington said that 212 artists registered but more than 250 participated at the event to paint 20-foot high murals on the longest graffiti wall in the world.

Due to Covid-19, we feel the best way to keep the event safe this year is to do a virtual event featuring all types of visual artists including canvas painters, graphic designers, digital artists, air brushers, muralists, and graffiti art.” All activity for Paint Louis 2020 is organized on the official project webpage.

Paint Louis brought respected hiphop artists Souls of Mischief to the event to perform for free.

[8][35] Paint Louis 2024 is August 30 until September 1 and features artists from around the world including Peat Eyez, Matt Minetta, Jason "Killer Napkins", Max Presur, Sase 1 WST and hundreds more.

[36] Paint Louis brought transformative golden age rapper Rakim to the festival for a sponsored free concert for all attendees.