In the Community

‘Cirencester History Festival is a volunteer-run charitable organisation, and a true all-town collaboration.

Our plan is to attract big names to Cirencester and put it on the festival map, but also to provide a platform for local people and organisations, and to celebrate our community. We’re very proud to work with local schools and charities to make sure everyone can enjoy the fun, creativity, learning and bonding that a festival can bring.’

Jess Yarrow, Festival Producer

Collaboration

Our 2024 festival involved 30 local organisations pulling together across 17 venues. Our devolved approach means we can provide a platform for local cultural organisations while benefitting from their experience and expertise.

‘Collaborating with the History Festival has raised our society’s profile and helped us reach a much wider audience. Our recent Croome lecture was our best attended ever’

— Cirencester Archaeological and Historical Society.

Outreach

Not many people know that we devised a whole series of free, off-programme outreach events by linking creative and charity partners during the 2024 festival week, to help reach a little deeper into the community. We will be continuing this scheme in 2025.

Our 2024 events ranged from children’s historical cookery school to local history workshops and object handling for children, older people and those living with dementia. You can find out more about our 2024 outreach events here.

‘We had 12 children and their families from The Churn Project and Cirencester Opportunity Group come along to make ancient (chicken and veg!) pies as part of the Cirencester History Festival outreach programme. It meant 12 families went home with a meal on Friday night. One mother, who had escaped a difficult domestic situation and was until recently without an oven, said it had given her the confidence to start cooking for her daughter again. It really, really meant a lot’.

— Sarah Edmonds, Cotswold Cookery School.

Schools and Families

By partnering with Cirencester College we were able to offer student trips to curriculum-adjacent talks as well as volunteering opportunities and backstage access to interview speakers.

We provided £5 youth tickets to Cirencester College, Deer Park and Kingshill schools and trialled a £5 under-22s ticket for Charlie Cooper’s talk in 2024. We aim to apply this across the whole festival in 2025.

‘Volunteering was such a rewarding experience. I had multiple opportunities to speak with and learn from distinguished historians and archaeologists … The entire experience was extraordinary, and has made me extremely passionate to connect everyone with history’

— Year 13 student, Cirencester College

Our 2024 festival included 21 family events for half term and Halloween, many of which were free or heavily subsidised. This year we plan to remove further barriers to access by making all our family drop-ins free.

2024 impact report

Download our 2024 impact report to find out what we’ve learned so far, and how we plan to adapt the festival in 2025.

Download PDF

‘We felt incredibly proud to be part of the History Festival. It has been a catalyst to make new connections in our local community, which have extended well beyond the week of the festival’

— National Trust at Chedworth Roman Villa

With huge thanks to Cotswold Cookery School, CAHS, The Living Memory Historical Association, Chedworth Roman Villa, Jesse Smith, Cirencester Opportunity Group, The Churn Project and The Cotswold Primrose Charitable Trust for making our outreach work possible, and to The Arts Society Corinium for subsidising all our 2024 youth tickets and family drop-ins.

Please get in touch if you would like to help us provide even more free or subsidised content in 2025, whether by volunteering or making a donation. email: di@cirencesterhistoryfestival.org