In only two years time, the Kenilworth Arts Festival will be celebrating it’s tenth anniversary, yet they have decided to “switch it up” this coming year.  

The annual festival launched in 2016 with the idea of bringing together all kinds of artists and creatives for one-off events lasting 10 days in September. 

This year, however, they have changed their initial programme to something “a lot more accessible” for people all over Kenilworth and the surrounding areas.  

“We will be delivering - at minimum - one event a month throughout the year,” Sarah McCaffrey, of Kenilworth Arts Festival, said.  

She added: “These will range from live music events, to workshops, to arts events and markets.” 

Most events this year will be split between the Abbey Hill United Reformed Church, and the Tree House Bookshop, where the former will host larger events, and the latter will have “more intimate” gigs. 

Since 2020, the festival noticed a loss of support, and found that the 10 days were “becoming increasingly difficult to manage”, especially due to a lack of volunteers.  

Their close work with local businesses has become even more prevalent, especially since their change of programme.  

A trial run of events took place in October, and then again in December, encouraging the local community to get involved once again.  

“The response has been great. Most of our events have already sold out,” Sarah said.  

She added: “We had a sold-out event earlier in the year, of Michael Mansfield launching his book, which was fantastic.” 

Despite the success of their events, Kenilworth Arts Festival is still looking to improve and considering how they can engage with the wider community, which has been difficult since the outbreak of Covid-19.  

Sarah continued: “Over the course of the year we want to deliver a range of things that are accessible to everyone.”  

A statement from the Kenilworth Arts Festival website explains how these events continue to help isolated people and families to gain inspiration to get more creative.  

“It’s only through the support of Kenilworth Town Council that we can continue delivering arts events in Kenilworth,” she added.  

In another extension to the local community, Sarah said: “If you’ve got a local artist or an event then you would like to put on, please get in touch with us, and we can help support you to do that.”