Let’s look back at the Arundel Festival of the Arts…
Photography by Charlie Waring
Written by Barb Hogan
What has happened at the Arundel Festival of the Arts over the years?
When you hear someone say ‘Arundel Festival’, what do those words make you think of first? What are your Arundel Festival memories?
Does the Arundel Festival conjure up visions of the Gallery Trail, the Theatre Trail, or Have you seen Arundel’s famous Duck Race during the Arundel Festival of the Arts? Those little yellow plastic ducks have always been very competitive!
Can you remember the hot air balloons, helicopter rides, big boat trips, and bathtub races?
Did you attend the vintage days and see the performance cars parked in the town centre where huge bubbles floated by and folk on stilts could be seen strutting their stuff!
Do you remember all the music – Abba, rock bands, steel bands, soul singers and choirs? Did you see the tired runners outside the Norfolk Arms finishing their 10K race or the cute water voles snacking on apples while sitting on rafts in the Mill Lane stream?
Perhaps you remember seeing the Shakespeare plays and jousting at Arundel Castle, the huge firework displays above the ramparts, or even the giant bear carved with a chain saw and willow weaving in Tarrant Street. Did you hear the drums beating in time to the rowers taking part in the Dragon Boat racing on the Arun? The Big Screen also appeared in Arundel when an Open Air Cinema event took place.
There has certainly been lots of entertainment to choose from as the Arundel Festival has been running now for 47 years! Yes, it really has been going that long! Arundel has received worldwide acclaim for this annual Festival of the Arts and is still attracting people of all ages and all walks of life who visit the town at the end of August for what is now 10 days of amazing entertainment.
What has been a regular event at the Arundel Festival in the past?
Have you ever wanted to see inside some of the beautiful old houses in Arundel? Well, the oldest walking art trail in the world, our very own Arundel Gallery Trail allows you to do just this.
Artists, makers, galleries, shops and homeowners have been opening their doors in Arundel for over the last 30 years, for the public to see the work of over 150 artists.
This walkable ‘open house’ invitation has always been free and still attracts thousands of visitors to the town who want to take the opportunity of seeing a huge variety of artwork and also, perhaps, have the opportunity of seeing inside some beautiful and often historic, privately owned houses too!
Another ‘regular event’ The Arundel Festival Theatre Trail, started by Drip Action Theatre, is so popular that some 2000 people each year come to see the Theatre Trail plays performed – held at a variety of venues all over the town from the Football Club to the Town Hall!
There is still loads of music to hear, plays to see and entertainment for all ages going on throughout the town – just as it has always been for many years now.
Has any entertainment ever not gone quite to plan?
And the answer is definitely YES! As is often the case with such a massive event, over the years, things haven’t always gone quite to plan!
The Girls Allowed group were so popular when they were due to perform one year, the whole town and roads nearby were gridlocked for hours as thousands of fans headed towards Arundel to see them sing at the Castle.
Bathtubs have sunk, hot air balloons have floated out towards the English Channel and huge thunderstorms have damped down the entertainment but in the usual, typical English way, whatever seemed to happen, the events and performers just somehow carried on!
Getting permission to hold races in the river was never easy as different organisations own different bits of The River!
So once the organisers found out who owned the riverbed, the towpath, car park, slip way and had also advised the Environment Agency, the organisers then had to be sure each one had actually agreed to the bathtubs being allowed on the river before the race could even start!
When performance cars were shown on the grass verges in Mill Lane, special blocks were applied along the kerbs to ensure no grass, kerb or road was damaged as these vehicles were parked up each day!
In 2020 when, due to Covid, the Festival was driven off the streets, a Virtual Festival could still be seen on You Tube and so in true tradition, the organisers had found a way to carry things on and didn’t even let a worldwide pandemic stop them!
And so to sum up …….
Arundel Festival has a history that is colourful, entertaining and often amusing and has taken many forms over the years and grown in lots of different ways.
One thing has never changed, nor it is likely to change and that is quite simply, that it has always been about community – which is something Arundel is very proud of.
As the Duke of Norfolk said “The Arundel Festival showcases everything that is excellent about our town” so go along, enjoy yourself again this year and be proud to be a part of this amazing and still evolving community celebration.
