Tadley Autumn Arts Festival to showcase best of community talent

One of the largest community arts events in North Hampshire returns next month.

The third edition of the Tadley Autumn Arts Festival will showcase the best of the town’s creative output, as well as featuring performances and exhibitions from groups across the county and from internationally recognised artists.

The festival is organised by 10 different churches in Tadley and takes place from Friday, October 14 to Sunday, October 16.

Reverend Steve McKay of St Mary’s Church, the festival’s chief organiser, said: “It is such a joy to see the Tadley community come together.

“Not only has the festival deepened the relationships between the churches in Tadley, but it also led to the community joining together and knitting over 5,000 poppies which will be hung from St Mary’s tower.

“We are so excited this see this project join with the Arts Festival this year.”

The poppy raising Rev McKay discussed is set to be the festival’s centrepiece.

Hundreds of Tadley residents contributed to making the thousands of crocheted poppies that will all hang on a 20 metre net set to be draped from the church tower on the Saturday morning at 11am.

The theme of this year’s festival is nature and the environment, with Rev McKay hoping that much of the art produced for the event will be made of natural and sustainable materials.

Beginning a week before the festival officially opens, a scarecrow trail will be on display in the town, with the best scarecrow being judged and awarded at the festival’s finale in St Mary’s at 4.30pm on Sunday.

The remit for creating a scarecrow is “build a scarecrow with zero plastic and as few human-made items as possible” and entries cost £5. Those interested should visit https://bit.ly/3xTbxb3

The community art exhibition, which will feature dozens of exhibits from local artists, will be open over the weekend at St Mary's Church.

Those interested in exhibiting their work should complete the application here https://bit.ly/3DPYcnT

A particular festival highlight is an evening concert performance by Philippa Hanna, a contemporary Christian singer-songwriter who has toured with the likes of Lionel Richie, Leona Lewis, Wet Wet Wet and Little Mix.

She is performing at the Link Community Centre in Tadley on Friday evening. Tickets are £15 and are available here https://bit.ly/3DY6Wbw

Other events over the weekend include a RISE Theatre drama workshop for children “exploring our responsibility for the planet” on Friday, and a multi-media artwork display on Saturday at St Mary the Virgin Church in Silchester.

Information on the entire festival can be seen here https://bit.ly/3rdCm60

Rev McKay also stated how excited he is to see the community come together during the festival and how he can’t wait to welcome visitors near and far to this free Tadley event.