Chichester City Council generously supports Festival of Chichester 2022

Andrew Bernardi will be among the performers on the first day of the 2022 Festival of Chichester

This year’s Festival of Chichester will be the tenth – and the festival’s organising committee has come up with a brilliant programme to mark the anniversary, boasting a huge cross-section of the groups, talents and individuals which make the Chichester area such a special place to be.

The fun kicks off on the festival’s opening Saturday (June 11), with the festival returning to its traditional open-air launch party on the cathedral green from 2pm.

The Bernardi Music Group will be offering an open-air concert, opening the festival with movements from Beethoven’s Pastorale Symphony No 6 and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence; Olivia Stevens will be offering jazzy blues; and other exciting festival performers will be taking part.

Festival chairman Phil Hewitt said: “It is going to be a great festival in a big celebratory summer for Chichester and it will also be a great chance to thank the people that make it happen.

“We have got a brilliant organising committee and we meet once a month, but not even we could make anything happen if we didn’t have the absolutely vital support of two total bedrocks of Chichester – the Chichester Observer and Chichester City Council.

“The Chichester Observer has backed the festival from the very moment it was conceived, and the City Council have always been a wonderful friend to us right from the day we held our first open meeting there, in October 2012, just to see whether was interested in a new summer festival for Chichester.

“The City Council has been incredibly generous to us ever since. This year they have awarded us a remarkable grant of £3,000 which is going to make – and has already made – a huge difference to us in terms of letting people know the festival is happening. The City Council has always understood exactly what we are hoping to achieve with the festival, and their kindness and encouragement every year make us even more proud of this wonderful city we live and work in.”

The full Chichester City Council discretionary community awards for 2022-2023 are 4Sight Vision Support £1328.40; Centurion Way Users Group £500; Chestnut Tree House/St Barnabas Hospices £487.97; Chichester Forest Schools £2120; Chichester Nightingales Army CIC £352; Chichester Pride £2500; Chichester Priory Park Cricket Club £2500; Chichester Tree Wardens £488; Chichester Youth Adventure Trust £350; Crown Community Pub Hub Ltd £500; Festival of Chichester £3000; Life Centre £2430; Royal Sussex Regimental Association £2500; Sussex Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus £500; Three Cities £500; Transition Chichester £1500; and UK Harvest £2000.