Programme for Horsham District Year of Culture 2019 is revealed

A 56-page programme covering January to June 2019 has now been published for the event showcasing local arts and heritage across all of the Horsham district.

There will be 38 unique events which are being grant funded by the council as part of the 12 month celebration.

These projects are as diverse as the first Horsham Film Festival and first Sussex Comedian of the Year contest, the return of the District Schools Dance Festival, the St Cuthman’s Wheelbarrow Race in Steyning, a ukulele festival in Ashington and light projections across the whole district.

There will also be the opportunity to write poems to help create a Poets’ Corner in Horsham Park, an evening with Sir Ranulph Fiennes and a sing-a-long screening of the film Grease.

Larger projects, such as local artist Sarah Duffield’s specially commissioned paintings to encapsulate the district and outdoor Shakespearean theatre – A Midsummmer Night’s Dream at Knepp are also taking place.

Events such as The Big Gig at Horsham Sports Club, Shipley Arts Festival and Steyning Country Fair will also form part of the programme of events.

The programme, which includes full events listings, is available free and available now from leisure centres, museums, surgeries and libraries with many more currently being distributed.

Additionally, the online events diary is also now available with its exhaustive listings of more than 150 supplementary Year of Culture Fringe events.

Horsham District Council’s cabinet member for culture and leisure, Jonathan Chowen, said: “The line-up of events is innovative, exciting, and often interactive, creating opportunities for people not just to sit back and watch, but to actually perform and take part themselves.

“Now is the time to really get involved, pick up the official programme or look online at the hundreds of events planned, many of them free. There has never been a better time to engage with our heritage, history, the arts, dance and much more.”

Patron of the Horsham District Year of Culture, world renowned author and local resident Julia Donaldson MBE said it was hard for her to choose her favourite event.

She said: “I know I’ll enjoy Steyning Book Lovers’ Week and the promenade theatre piece, A Norman’s Tale, in Bramber.

“The writing and sculptural project at Warnham Local Nature Reserve is definitely tempting me.

The Year of Culture 2019 - a year-long celebration of inspirational events organised by Horsham District Council, is set to feature something for everyone – highlighting events and activities that are already firm favourites as well as bringing new groups and communities together.

A second programme will be available from May 2019 to cover July to December 2019.

For full details visit www.hdculture2019.co.uk.

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