Cultural and creative ambitions of the district move from strength to strength
Visit Winchester is celebrating the strength of the district’s cultural sector with new creative festivals, events and bid applications.
A recent Winchester Cultural Collective gathering organised by Visit Winchester, which is part of Winchester City Council (WCC), brought together sector leaders, practitioners and partners for discussion, project sharing and artistic showcases.
The collective is a partnership group supporting the delivery of the WCC Winchester District Cultural Strategy, which was published in 2024 and sets out a shared vision for the cultural development of the Winchester district until 2030.
Among the projects highlighted at the event were the new Winchester Youth Nights, launched with support from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which empower young people to take the lead in creating the cultural activity they would like to see. Two successful open mic nights have already taken place, delivered in collaboration with The University of Southampton, The University of Winchester, Discarded Nut and Play to the Crowd.
This year marked another first with From Behind Closed Doors, Winchester’s festival celebrating the district’s creative industries. The festival featured a design challenge led by RODD featuring 10 students from Winchester School of Art, a weekend where 17 studios opened to 60+ visitors each, and an exhibition highlighting 12 of Winchester’s commercial creative studios, welcoming 300 visitors.
Visit Winchester also recently submitted a postcard bid as part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s first UK Town of Culture competition. The postcard representing Winchester, which is the county town of Hampshire, featured a broad range of the festivals which bring it to life, against an iconic heritage backdrop. The design now becomes part of the permanent collection at National Museums Liverpool.
Councillor Lucille Thompson, Cabinet Member for Culture and Business at Winchester City Council, said: “Fantastic work has been delivered over the last two years, and our partnerships continue to go from strength to strength. The cultural strategy was always intended to be a partnership endeavour, and the recent bid for UK Town of Culture has been another valuable opportunity to demonstrate the power of our ambition as a collective.”