Culture and Community, the South Downs Way!

A Bit about the festival

Following on from our successful 2024 Festival, which featured 90 events spread over ten days, we are now planning our next festival, due to take place in late May/early June 2026.

As with past festivals, we will have the Big Top at our Fletchers Croft site, as well as a host of smaller venues around Steyning and beyond. The programme will once again feature a broad range of acts and performances from the worlds of comedy, theatre, literature and the visual arts, plus walks and tours, community and green days and much more besides.

As with previous years, the Festival will be focused primarily on the communities of Steyning, Bramber, Upper Beeding, Ashington and Washington, with a mixture of local talent added into the mix of professional acts. And we will be running our popular bar, café and food outlets as always.

We pride ourselves on being one of the largest (if not THE largest) festival in the UK run entirely by volunteers, with a small band of trustees to oversee the Festival as a whole. As always we will be dependent on our band of amazing volunteers who make everything work for us before, during and after the festival. It’s never too early to join up, so please head for the Volunteers page for more information on how to sign up for the 2026 festival.

For each festival, we also depend on our band of Friends, who help to sponsor the programme of events. We will be revamping our Friends offer for 2026, so please keep track of developments through the Friends page and email address.

And in the meantime, take a look at the gallery of photographs of the 2024 Festival that are dotted around the website.

With best wishes for a brilliant rest of 2025, and our hope that we will be welcoming as many of you as possible to a Festival event in 2026!

See The Events

Children’s Events
With nearly 30 children’s events, the Festival will be a great place to spend some of the Half-Term holiday with the kids.

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Comedy
Revel in laughter and hilarity with top comedy performers and homegrown talent.

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Community
Join in a wide range of community events, with something for everyone from Steyning and surrounding parishes.

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Poetry
Dive into a world of poetry and stories.

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Music

Indulge in a range of stimulating musical events and let the rhythms and melodies inspire and uplift you.

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Science
Be informed and inspired by top-level scientists and naturalists.

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Talks
Be fascinated and enthralled by a top line-up of speakers on a wide range of topics.

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Drama
Once again a central part of the Festival programme, with a range of events from across the dramatic sphere.

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Walks
Wander through the enchanting landscapes of Steyning and its surroundings.

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Wellness
Take part in a wide range of wellness events to combine fun and fitness, workout and wellbeing.

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Other
Find anything else here.

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Interested? Stay In The Loop!

Tickets will be on sale closer to the date. register your interest below to receive updates on when these tickets release!

Want To Be A
Festival Friend?

The Festival is indebted to the group of Festival Friends who have supported us over the years. For those past Friends who wish to continue with their support and those new Friends whom we hope to welcome to our family, we will launch the programme for registration in early 2024. As well as a two-week priority period for ticket purchases, Friends will also be offered the opportunity to attend a pre-festival launch event and a post-festival feedback event. Please watch this space for further updates; we look forward to welcoming you.

Our 2024 Sponsors