Plenty to look forward to through 2022

After what has been a very difficult and challenging two years, I’m pleased to say that we have plenty to look forward to in the district in 2022. We are working with a range of partners to mark a momentous year of culture in the district in 2022 and to celebrate the multiple milestones of some of its cultural organisations.

Culture Spark will offer an exciting season of events, performances, live entertainment and community projects. We will be celebrating 60 years of Chichester Festival Theatre; 40 years of Pallant House Gallery; 30 years of Chichester Cinema at New Park’s International Film Festival; 10 years of the Novium Museum and the Festival of Chichester; and even more impressively, 200 years of the Canal Trust! All of these organisations will be holding their own exciting events as part of the season to mark this special year.

Inspired by the anniversaries, Culture Spark will also bring together a wide variety of community groups, individuals, the university, colleges and schools from across the district to celebrate the district’s rich cultural offering. The full programme will be announced later this spring, but you can visit www.thegreatsussexway.org/culturespark-2022 for more information.

Not only do we have this to look forward to, but we also have the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which is set to be the country’s ‘biggest ever’ celebration – as it takes over a bumper bank holiday weekend this year. The event, marking her Majesty’s 70 years as reigning monarch, will take place from Thursday, June 2, to Sunday, June 5. Thursday and Friday are the official bank holidays – with the first date replacing the usual spring bank holiday, which is normally on the final Monday in May.

There are many ways you can get involved, including street parties; the Big Jubilee Lunch; Beacon lighting; and the Queen’s Green Canopy project, which is encouraging people to plant trees. If you want to plan a street party, it is well worth visiting www.gov.uk/government/ publications/your-guide-to-organising-astreet-party/your-guide-to-organising-astreet-party#what-sort-of-events-does-thisguidance-apply-to which will provide you with guidance on how to do this.

We hope to have a small grants pot to help our communities commemorate the Platinum Jubilee. Parish councils will be able to apply for grants of up to £250 to pay for lasting tributes like tree planting, street furniture and equipment for celebrations that can be reused. The scheme should be confirmed by the end of January.

I’m also pleased to tell you that after the success of our Cross, Market & More event last year, we plan to arrange three further events this year. One of these will be combined with our Summer Street Party, which we will be holding on a weekend this year, in direct response to your feedback.

The Cross, Market & More event was held in Chichester’s North Street and East

Street in November and was designed to promote the city as a destination and showcase the work of the best local designers and producers – many of whom are regular traders of Petworth Pop-up.

You may remember we also teamed up with Chichester and Brinsbury Colleges to offer students an opportunity to sell their products in the Traders of Tomorrow stalls. We’ll let you know as soon as the dates are confirmed.

This is part of our drive to boost the local economy, showcase the district and attract more headline events. The district is renowned for its events – such as Goodwood – and we want to build on this as we hopefully start to recover from the pandemic. It is also in direct response to feedback from residents who want to see more music, food, arts and cultural events.

We’re hoping 2022 will bring a spark of excitement to the district and mark the start of more positive and happy times. I look forward to telling you more about all of these activities over the coming months.