Access All AreasCheltenham Festivals has announced a five-year plan outlining its strategy across its events.
The charity, which runs the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Science Festival, Music Festival and Literature Festival, has outlined its intention to make 50% of its festival activity for free by 2030.
Other key aims within its plan, titled The Next Chapter, include growing its 18-30 year-old audiences, to become recognised as a leading UK arts and culture organisation for young people, and double Cheltenham Festivals’ engagement with residents from the most economically deprived areas of the Gloucestershire town.
The charity said it will also work to ensure that at least 20% of speakers and artists on its festival stages are representative of the global majority. By the end of the next half-decade it is aiming to have raised £37 million to invest back into the cultural economy.
“The UK’s cultural context is complex; our vision is simple: building a happier, fairer, more resilient future through equitable access to culture,” said Cheltenham Festivals Co-CEO Ali Mawle. “Our new strategy, The Next Chapter, lays the foundations for our continued growth and evolution, as a nationwide values-driven charity.”
Cheltenham Festivals’ new direction is being supported by artistic talent including singer-songwriter and broadcaster Cerys Matthews, guest curator for Cheltenham Jazz Festival Corinne Bailey Rae, and festival president Dame Judi Dench.