Stogursey Arts Festival 2025 Report

Overview of Festival 2025

This was held later than previous years ie in October. The date change was due toa re-organization to the structure of the arts festival early in 2025. A Festival Group was formed to manage the structure of the event in parallel with the Events and Planning Group which has organised fundraising. These changes made for a very smooth operation in both categories and was instrumental in achieving a very successful year

Concept. The concept for the 2025 festival saw a significant shift in promoting the event using social media in conjunction with traditional forms of advertising. This saw a big increase in visitors to both fundraising events and the festival. Further, the use of these methods attracted people from within the parish wider area to participate.

Funding Grant. The festival group was successful in obtaining a Grant through the Hinkley Point Community Fund. This funding assisted with outlay costs for many activities as shown in the following paragraphs

Events. There were a series of events starting in August 24 geared to actively promoting the festival in addition to securing a good financial base for immediate expenditure. The August evening was a music event, November saw a wine tasting and auction of promises, March 25 was a celebration of St David’s Day with a themed Welsh food supper and music evening. In July the festival group co hosted an outdoor production with a professional theatre touring company. The event was supported by attendees from throughout Somerset, Devon and west Dorset. This provided a further opportunity to promote the festival itself with fliers detailing events given to ticket holders on arrival at the venue.

Promotion and workshops. Active promotion for the festival started in June 25 with the announcement of various workshops designed to encourage people throughout the parish to partake in floral arrangements, a clay making session, arts & craft afternoon plus lantern making from September towards the festival date in October. The last of these also involved the village primary school as the children used part of their art class time to learn about and make individual lanterns. The workshops were all fully subscribed and much enjoyment was had by all who attended. This proved a useful guide for future workshops.

The Festival. The festival ran from 10^th – 19^th October. The main exhibition was a magnificent floral exhibition in St Andrew’s church, Stogursey along the lines of the Bayeux Tapestry. Individually made tapestries and floral mannikins by many local people throughout the parish and further afield made for a stunning display of this important part of our local history

BBC Points West came and filmed the exhibition, conducted interviews and were on hand to film the lantern parade by the school children and adults involved with the lantern making classes. This formed the basis of the opening ceremony co-ordinated with the live broadcast of the daily programme from the Bristol studios. Following the broadcast, visitors came to view the exhibition from many parts of the west country.

During the festival week, there were opportunities to enjoy an eclectic mix of music in various venues. Some included poetry readings attracting a diverse group from the local and wider community. The weekly lunches operated by volunteers organised a particularly exciting menu as part of the festival and this was very much enjoyed

Summary. The workshops were the perfect precursor to the festival and their success helpedto make it a truly memorable event. The active participation by the primary school, parents and numerous adults achieved the desired effect of attracting the whole community into the spirit of the festival. One noticeable factor was the limit of spending by visitors and attendees. This was due to the constant increase in the cost of living affecting disposable incomes.

John JAMES

Chair Festival Group