Let’s look back at the Arundel Festival of the Arts…
Photography by Charlie Waring
Written by Barb Hogan
What has happened at the Arundel Festival of the Arts over the years?
When you hear someone say ‘Arundel Festival’, what do those words make you think of first? What are your Arundel Festival memories?
Does the Arundel Festival conjure up visions of the Gallery Trail, the Theatre Trail, or Have you seen Arundel’s famous Duck Race during the Arundel Festival of the Arts? Those little yellow plastic ducks have always been very competitive!
Can you remember the hot air balloons, helicopter rides, big boat trips, and bathtub races?
Did you don your finest vintage outfit for a vintage day of fun or thrill to the sight of the Sporting Bears performance cars parked in the town centre where giant bubbles floated by and folk on stilts strutted their stuff along Tarrant Street?
And the music… do you remember the fabulous music? Abba Magic (who will play on the High Street for the first time this year), rock bands, steel bands, soul singers and choirs?
Have you cheered tired runners across the 10K finish line outside the Norfolk Arms or delighted in the cute water voles snacking on apples while sitting on rafts in the Mill Lane stream?
Perhaps you remember watching Shakespeare’s plays performed at Arundel Castle, the spectacular firework displays above the Arundel Castle ramparts, or even the giant bear carved with a chain saw and willow weaving in Tarrant Street?
There’s certainly been a vast range of entertainment from which to choose as the Arundel Festival has been running for 44 years. Yes, it really has been going that long!
The annual Arundel Festival of the Arts has received worldwide acclaim and stills attracts people of all ages with something to surprise and delight everyone to what is now 10 days of fantastic entertainment at the end of August.
Which regular Arundel Festival events can you still enjoy today?
Have you ever wanted to peek inside some of the beautiful old houses around Arundel? Well, the oldest walking art trail in the world, our very own Arundel Gallery Trail allows you to do just this.
For more than 30 years, artists, makers, galleries, shops, and homeowners in and around Arundel have opened their doors and invited the public to view the work of more than 150 artists.
This walkable ‘open house’ invitation has always been free and attracts thousands of visitors who want to seize the once-a-year opportunity to see a huge variety of artwork and (of course!) to look around private, often historic, homes.
Another regular event, The Arundel Festival Theatre Trail, started by Drip Action Theatre over 20 years ago, is so popular that in 2019, more than 2,000 people came to see the eight Theatre Trail plays performed. They were staged at a variety of venues all over the town, from the Football Club to the Arundel Town Hall.
You can enjoy both the Gallery Trail and the Theatre Trail at this year’s Arundel Festival of the Arts.
Has any Arundel Festival fun not entirely gone to plan?
The answer is definitely – yes! As is often the case with such a massive event, there have been a few ‘oops’ and ‘oh dear’ moments over the years.
In 2007, the Girls Aloud group proved such a draw that the entire town and roads around it were gridlocked for hours as thousands of fans headed towards Arundel to see them sing at Arundel Castle.
Bathtubs have sunk, some the instant they launched into the River Arun for the bathtub race. Even getting permission to hold Festival races on the River Arun has proved tricky as different organisations own different bits of The River.
So, once the event organisers discovered who owned the riverbed, the towpath, car park, slipway and advised the Environment Agency, they then had to secure the agreement of everyone that bathtubs were allowed on the river before the race could begin.
Hot air balloons have floated out towards the English Channel, and massive thunderstorms have threatened to dampen proceedings. But in true English style, whatever happens, the Arundel Festival organisers and performers still stage incredible events.
Even the global Covid-19 pandemic couldn’t stop the Arundel Festival of the Arts. In 2020, a Virtual Festival drew thousands of viewers to YouTube to enjoy performances from local acts.
One thing that will never change at the Arundel Festival of the Arts
This history of the Arundel Festival is colourful, entertaining, often amusing – and always fun. Over the years, the Festival has taken many forms, and it has grown to become a key date in the Arundel event calendar.
One thing that never has – and will never! – change is that the Arundel Festival is first and foremost about community, which is something we can all be proud of.
As the Duke of Norfolk said, “The Arundel Festival showcases everything that is excellent about our town”. So make a date in your diary for this year’s Arundel Festival, check out the full event calendar at the Arundel Festival website, and enjoy this amazing, ever-evolving community celebration of the arts.
