We are delighted to announce that Gloucester History Festival are among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.
This award will support the preparations and development of an exciting autumn festival for 2021, making it possible for Gloucester History Festival to present an engaging programme of events.
“We are delighted to have the support of the Culture Recovery Fund.
This grant is the much needed support we needed to develop an inspiring festival for the autumn. A festival for our communities to come together, develop their understanding of the world, both past and present and learn about the Frontiers and Pioneers that have shaped all of our stories.”
Jacqui Grange, Festival Manager
Gloucester History Festival has received a grant of £12.5K from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover and develop their future offer.
More than £300 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country including Gloucester History Festival in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.
Gloucester History Festival is committed to bringing history to life for everyone. We present an annual two week festival to celebrate the city’s rich history, heritage and culture. The festival celebrates local, national and international history through a highly acclaimed programme of Blackfriars Talks; the City Voices programme of workshops, performances, tours, parades, exhibitions and digital content; the Heritage Open Days and the much loved Gloucester Day, to give people the chance to learn from the past and shape their life today for the future. During 2020 the festival took place online, providing history and culture to people in their homes.
With the first Culture Recovery Fund grant, Gloucester History Festival has been able to develop an online Spring festival, which will bring history and culture to homes near and far from April 17th-18th. The festival presents a programme of talks from historians including Greg Jenner, Janina Ramirez, Tim Marshall, Robert Pike and Katja Hoyer. The festival also offers an array of special experiences, enabling people to engage with the past in different ways, from rare opportunities to see Gloucester’s historic venues virtually to singing historical songs, and an interview with Vanley Burke.
This second Culture Recovery Fund award will support the Gloucester History Festival to prepare, secure and develop an exciting programme of events for the autumn on the theme of Frontiers and Pioneers, to mark a year which sees a multitude of significant anniversaries of frontiers and pioneers of all kinds. 2021 includes anniversaries of the end of the USSR 30 years ago, the building of the Berlin Wall and Yuri Gagarin’s first manned space flight 60 years ago, the Battle of the Imjin River during the Korean War 70 years ago and, much further back, this May marks the 550th anniversary of Gloucester’s city gates closing against Margaret of Anjou as she approached Gloucester before the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471.
The Culture Recovery Fund will support the development of an autumn festival full of stories of crossing boundaries, new discoveries, change and advancements of the past. A festival to re-unite local communities and empower all generations to explore history and develop their understanding of the world, both past and present.
“Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.
Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.”
Oliver Dowden, Culture Secretary
Over £800 million in grants and loans has already been awarded to support almost 3,800 cinemas, performance venues, museums, heritage sites and other cultural organisations dealing with the immediate challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
The second round of awards made will help organisations to look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a much-needed helping hand for organisations transitioning back to normal in the months ahead.
“Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work.
We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.”
Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England
The funding awarded is from a £400 million pot which was held back last year to ensure the Culture Recovery Fund could continue to help organisations in need as the public health picture changed. The funding has been awarded by Arts Council England, as well as Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.
