The inaugural Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival has seen more than 35,000 visitors head to the art gallery, with many more exploring the city's walls and participating in a variety of events hosted around the CBD.

People are being encouraged to head down to the exhibition before it closes on June 15.

Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout, who's attended many of the Paradox events, says he's chuffed by how Tauranga's communities have engaged with street art.

'Seeing people of all ages, young and old, families, teens, grandparents and their grandkids – all demographics of Tauranga enjoying the festival and its event offerings is simply exciting.

'The street art festival showcases what our urban city centre has on offer: world-class pieces of street art around town and an outstanding exhibition in our art gallery.”

Tauranga Art Gallery director Karl Chitham says he is thrilled by the interest in the Paradox Inside exhibition.

'Lots of locals have come to the gallery, and people have travelled from all over the country and further afield to see the exhibition. It has been a fantastic start to our 10th anniversary year.

'This show and the whole of Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival has given an incredible boost to the energy in the CBD, which is great to see.”

Tauranga will come to life even more in the last four weeks of the festival, with some very special events for our community to participate in.

The transformed walls can be explored at night to see the nocturnal creatures come to life. Guided night walks will be taking place in the last week of the festival, starting outside Tauranga Art Gallery on the corner of Wharf and Willow Streets, from June 11-15.

The art gallery will also be open late on Thursday, June 15, to give people one last chance to see the show.

While the winning pieces of the Paradox Youth Street Art Competition will be exhibited alongside works by Wongi, Lucy McLauchlan and Jacob Yikes from May 29 to June 9 in Toi Ohomai's newly opened Te Ara o Mauao building.

The building at the Windermere Campus houses Toi Ohomai's creative students and provides a great gallery space for the public to enjoy.

For the Paradox painting days, five Powerco substations around the central city will be painted by local artists, just as Christchurch's Wongi has recreated the substation at Spring Street. One of the substations will be reimagined by the overall winner of the Paradox Youth Street Art Competition.

Tauranga Art Gallery is also offering a number of workshops where visitors can print their own street art T-shirt on June 3. To book your spot, visit artgallery.org.nz/events.

The Paradox Inside exhibition is open to the public at the Tauranga Art Gallery daily from 10am to 4.30pm until Thursday, 15 June.

For all the Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival event details, visit taurangastreetartfestival.nz