Sherborne Town Council is putting together a bid which will be considered by the Arts Development Company to become County of Culture 2025. Following an initial Expression of Interest, an information sharing session has been arranged between 5.30pm and 7.30pm on Thursday 30 May at the Digby Hall, Hound Street.
This meeting will help to structure the final submission where statutory bodies to include health and education, community organisations and residents from across the town will be encouraged to come along and share ideas, suggestions and aspirations during an informal information gathering session. Whilst the town council will look to allocate funding towards this initiative, other funding sources will need to be found to support the bid.
Steve Shield, Town Clerk at Sherborne Town Council said ‘I am delighted that Sherborne has reached the final stage of this amazing opportunity for the town and we have until the 26 June to shape a strong application to be considered. Becoming County of Culture 2025 would provide a fantastic opportunity for our fabulous community to deliver a host of cultural activities and projects in some wonderful settings across our historic market town.’
Sherborne Town Mayor, Cllr Robin Legg added ‘Sherborne has a long history of cultural and artistic endeavours. The Victorian dramatist William Macready founded a Literary Institute at which his friend Charles Dickens gave readings for people of the town. Later The Sherborne Pageant of 1905 at Sherborne Old Castle drew huge crowds and special trains were laid on to what was recognised as the first people’s pageant in England.
Today Sherborne has a wide variety of societies and organisations offering music and literary festivals, lectures by eminent historians, as well as a thriving arts and drama scene. Now with the opening of The Sherborne as an arts venue the town is well placed to lead the County of Culture bid in 2025.’
To read more about the County of Culture please visit https://www.theartsdevelopmentcompany.org.uk/whats-happening/county-of-culture