28/11/2024
Full statement below:
It is with heavy hearts that we write this to let you all know that unfortunately, South Hams Festival won’t be going ahead in 2025. Last week South Hams District Council voted to postpone the festival to 2026. However, a 2026 Festival is not yet confirmed, and the details are still to be announced by SHDC. So we are sad to be saying goodbye for now…
We want to take this opportunity to thank all of the artists, venues, community groups and councillors who have put their time, energy and creativity into the first phase of the project. We have been working on this since November 2023 and we have so enjoyed meeting people all across the South Hams. In reality this project has been on the go since 2021, before the first festival in Totnes in 2022. We have tried really hard to make it a reality and bring you free, exciting, innovative arts. We hope that work will still count towards a thriving arts and culture sector in the South Hams.
If you want to give your support to a 2026 festival, let your councillors know! Stand up for the arts, speak out about why your local authorities should support free arts provision for you. Let them know that the arts are important, the arts create bonds that sustain us. And in an environment where arts funding is constantly being cut, projects like this help make the case for why we should continue to invest in artists, a sense of place and community cohesion.
For now, we are back to business as usual at NDP, you can find us at [email protected] or head over to NDP Circus to see what we’re up to.
Love & Solidarity,
Maria and Paul
