Back to normal for 2022 as Arundel Festival gets under way

Chairman Sharon Blaikie says the festival is back stronger than ever after all the difficulties of recent years – and is well placed to offer affordable fun as the cost of living crisis grips ever tighter.

“We have got a number of free and also affordable events alongside the ticketed concerts,” Sharon said. “There is a lot that is completely free.”

It all comes in a year of innovations for the festival which is developing its partnership with the University of Chichester and also developing a number of new partnerships including with Littlehampton Rotary. The festival also has a new central box office at the museum. Events include: Abba Magic on the High Street; Burfest; Café Culture; children’s concerts; choirs; dragon boat racing; duck race; music festival; performance car rides and vintage car display; street markets, charity stalls and entertainment. You can also stroll the Arundel Gallery Trail, soak up culture from the Drip Action Theatre Trail, The Arundel Players at Priory Playhouse and Shakespeare at Arundel Castle; enjoy Words, Music and Wine in private houses and concerts by The Hanover Band; plus family fun at the Arundel Lido and the Arundel Museum’s Children’s Trail.

Sharon said: “We are certainly back to normal this year. Everything has come back with bells and whistles and everything is happening. The Arundel Festival has been incredibly resilient during the lockdowns and still managed produce a virtual festival in 2020 and then we had a scaled-down festival last year in 2021. But we still managed to put on a lot of events and involved a lot of people with the focus on open-air entertainment. Safety was paramount. But now what is special is that this year is the Queen's platinum jubilee year. We managed to start our events in June with the town council as a kind of pre-festival in effect.”

The intention was always that the Arundel Festival of the Arts should be an all-year-round organisation, the umbrella for the main seasonal events throughout the year in the town.

“And what is important is that it is absolutely inclusive involving the whole town. We are in our 44th year and we do have a full guide to everything that is happening but it is constantly evolving. What is really important is uniting creativity and community across the full range of the arts.”

And now they are the reaping the rewards of keeping going during the pandemic at a time when other organisations shut down completely: “We found it was really important to keep connecting with people and putting on activities for people across the community and our wonderful town. It was incredibly important to keep going for everybody's well-being and for our neighbouring villages as well. We also wanted to support our local businesses in surviving and thriving and we managed to do that.

“Our festival manages to attract more than 50,000 visitors. Last year of course that was wildly reduced but we are hoping to get something like that this time.”