Culture – Page 2 – Buckinghamshire Culture

Taking place 28th-31st August, Open Weekend is a celebration of creativity and an invitation to explore! Take a look at our What’s On to find out what exciting activities are happening across Bucks.

You are invited to enjoy creative projects, performances, workshops, exhibitions and much more taking place across the county over a long weekend. This year’s events are themed to ‘stories and nature’ and aim to inspire you, your family and friends with experiences that bring creativity to life. From ancient folklore and myth to personal reflections and artistic expressions, stories shape the way we experience nature—and nature, in turn, fuels our imagination and creativity.

Over the four days of Open Weekend groups, organisations and creatives will hold over 50 events, so you can take part in activities from tree drawing workshops to dance exploring nature, wellbeing and personal stories, from photography to tell your story, to Opera combined with circus! From immersive music to growing and cooking, from woven stories using upcycled materials to snake stories and snake sculpture – there’s so much to discover. Events will take place across the county, some outside in nature and others inside.

If you have never been to Aylesbury Waterside Theatre you can take a tour to hear how its design is inspired by the Chiltern’s natural landscapes. Visit Discover Bucks Museum for a multi-sensory story time sharing how Bucks has changed from a watery world of undersea creatures to our modern landscape. Or take a trip to Wycombe Museum for a magical day of stories with a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ story trail, book-making, storytelling, face painting, and character games. And many of our Libraries are hosting a range of storytelling events and creative workshops.

Julius Weinberg, Buckinghamshire Culture Co-Chair said: “This year’s theme of stories and nature has inspired many great events, we are really excited to see so many groups, organisations and artists come forward to nurture the creativity of our county in this way. Thank you to everyone that has chosen to take part in Open Weekend 2025!“

Peter Brazier, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, added: “We are delighted to give our support to Buckinghamshire Culture’s Open Weekend once again this year. It is a fantastic way for everyone to get their creativity flowing and enjoy the wide range of fun activities on offer. With events and activities taking place across the whole county, I’d encourage everyone to take a look at the programme of events and get involved.”

A child smiling while participating in a crafting activity, surrounded by adults, working with decorated sticks at a table. — Community Sculpture at Chiltern Open Air Museum

The idea behind Open Weekend is to showcase the range and breadth of creative opportunities available Buckinghamshire and to encourage as many people as possible to get involved, go somewhere new or try something new. Open Weekend is organised by Buckinghamshire Culture and supported by Buckinghamshire Council and the Rothschild Foundation.

Special thanks to our Communication Sponsors: Bucks Radio, Hiya Bucks, High Wycombe Life, My Wycombe.

Buckinghamshire Culture acts as an umbrella organisation for independently planned events by partner organisations. You can find out more and help spread the word by visiting: www.buckinghamshireculture.org, Instagram @bucks_culture and @BuckinghamshireCulture on Facebook – look for #BucksOpenWeekend and please like and re-share!

Culture, news

Summertime Get Together

9th June 20259th June 2025 buckinghamshireculture

Join us for an afternoon of connection, creativity, and collaboration at Discover Bucks Museum, designed to bring together creative professionals and cultural organisations from across Buckinghamshire.

Event Details:

Date: 10th of July 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Location: Discover Bucks Museum, Aylesbury

This welcoming and purpose-driven session will begin with a light lunch and networking opportunity, followed by a short update from Bucks Culture on this year’s Open Weekend and the Wycombe Place Partnership. We will then be joined by special guest speaker who will introduce the work of Outdoor Arts UK and share inspiring opportunities for creative engagement in public spaces.

The afternoon will include opportunities to connect with peers, explore ideas for shared marketing and collaboration, and contribute content for Bucks Open Weekend. Participants will also be invited to take a guided tour of the museum’s current exhibition, Beyond the Stars, for inspiration and reflection.

This event is an excellent opportunity to:

Exchange ideas and explore joint opportunities for Open Weekend 2025
Learn from national insights on outdoor cultural programming
Build sector connections and share best practice
Inspire new approaches to audience engagement

Book your place using the form here:
https://forms.office.com/e/MqLjhDVs1d

We look forward to welcoming you.

news

Going Green the Write Up – Amersham Museum and Bucks Culture Present

30th May 2025 buckinghamshireculture

Going Green Gatherings – The journey to Net Zero, a collaborative story

Bucks Culture was formed to support the creative and cultural sector to develop and grow whilst also providing a talking space to tackle the agendas faced by the communities we work with and the creative organisations we support.

Working in collaboration across Bucks allows us to support the cultural sector to address key issues and climate change features highly.

The Going Green Gatherings offer an opportunity to not only build connections but also share insights into best practices. The team at Bucks Culture co-produced the Going Green Gatherings with Amersham Museum as part of their 12-month Going Green project, funded by Museum Development South East. The idea behind the group was for like-minded organisations to discuss and support one another in their green initiatives.

The only approach to tackling climate change is a joined-up one

Collaboration provides opportunity to widen reach and share information both within the sector and beyond. Increasing impact demands working, not only within the creative and cultural sectors, but across sectors to share knowledge and resources as we support each other in our endeavours towards lasting change. As a creative and cultural sector we are presented with the opportunity to help raise the profile of great causes and projects, working towards a more sustainable future for all. Art and creativity are essential tools for sharing information, translating complex data into more accessible formats, reaching new audiences and initiating behaviour change.

Session Content

The sessions are peer-led, with host spots available for suggested guest speakers to share top tips for greener futures. This series of fun and engaging sessions delivered mostly online allowed attendees to learn from each other.

Going Green Concepts

The first session, “Going Green Concepts,” covered the language of climate change and actions that organisations might take, presented by Samantha Free from Sustainable Amersham. During the ensuing conversation, we heard from Jim Davey-Hewins, Environmental & Sustainability Lead at Chiltern Music Therapy, who provided insight into creating a Sustainability Strategy and shared the following links.

Link to Chiltern Music Therapy’s latest Environmental Report

https://www.chilternmusictherapy.co.uk/stories/chiltern-music-therapys-2023-2024-environmental-report.

Link to Greeenhouse Gas Reporting Conversion Factors 2024

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2024

How Sustainable Is Your Venue? (session 2)

With many community spaces tasked with reaching Net Zero by 2030 the struggle is real, the target is unrealistic, and the sector is under–resourced to attain impactful change. So, where do we start?

Mike King from Project Zero, formed by Bucks Business First to support businesses on their journey to Net Zero shared an approach and resources https://bbf.uk.com/net-zero-ngage Rory Cullen, Historic Buildings Consultant, introduced the concepts and practicalities behind improving the thermal performance of listed buildings in his work at Cullen Conservation.

How Green Is Your Digital Practice, and how can museums manage their collections more sustainably? (session 3)

Digital practice is a big challenge for the creative sector, and we were delighted to discover that actually making something uses less carbon than digital creation, rendering and storage.

Learning from the experts.

In February we were treated to a journey through film and digital creativity with researcher and educator Dr Rebecca Harrison, who leads the Environmental Impact of Filmmaking Project. Rebecca shared how to work to reduce the carbon footprint of online digital practices and urged participants to consider the impact of generative AI.

Read more about Rebecca’s work here – eifproject.com and writingonreels.uk.

In the second part of the session, Lorraine Finch, Director LFCP, took us on a journey through real-life case studies. Lorraine’s session provided insight into actionable, low cost solutions to motivate the sector towards positive and sustainable behaviour change for arts, culture, and heritage settings.

More about Lorraine’s work. – Creating Change in Cultural Heritage

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecaringconservator

Joining the dots (session 4)

Melissa Linsey from Dacorum Heritage Trust led our final workshop to explore some of the ways in which we might make greener choices for our visitor events. Appreciating that much of our environmental sustainability work focuses behind the scenes to reduce our carbon footprint, such as on insulation, heating and lighting, Melissa asked whether the choices we make for our visitor activities, shops and displays are of equal thought and value.

From how to complete carbon calculations to implementing sustainable strategies, we emerge from the first series of sessions with plenty of work to complete. We have opened the conversation around AI and the environmental impact thereof and this is just the beginning. The sessions offer the opportunity to process new information in a group setting. We aren’t tackling the problem alone and can go so much further as a collective.

We are working on shared resources to signpost the sector to new information, championing great work and inviting creative orgs to make energy-saving steps towards a more sustainable future. We hope we can all be part of supporting positive behaviour change towards best sustainable solutions within our sector and beyond..

A big thank you to all for forming this group, coming together to support impactful change.

Join us on the creative journey to net zero

We aim to meet quarterly for the next year and are working on a collective marketing campaign sharing Top Tips for Greener Future to support more sustainable practices in our working lives.

Interested in being involved get in touch with Kerry – Email – Kerry@buckinghamshireculture.org

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Capturing Feedback from the Sector -Creative Culture Conversation – 20th March hosted Online via Butter.

30th May 2025 buckinghamshireculture

We are delighted to share an overview of feedback from our online session on the 20th March, expertly facilitated by the Team at Axon Black, using the interactive feedback platform, Butter. The format was fun and engaging capturing a broad range of responses, which we are busy transforming into programme content. A big thank you to all who joined us.

Read all about it below

Hopes & Concerns

Hopes for collaboration with Bucks Culture:

Establishing community partnerships for impactful cultural projects.
Support with funding applications and networking within the arts sector.
A thriving cultural sector with increased funding, accessibility, and participation.
More engagement from mid-level and entry-level employees, not just senior leadership.

Concerns & Desired Support:

Sustainability challenges due to funding cuts and low engagement.
The need for stronger networking and collaboration across Bucks.
Financial reliance on funding, with interest in exploring alternative revenue streams.

I Like, I Wish, I Wonder

Likes: Freedom in creative work, Bucks’ heritage, volunteer collaboration, large-scale creative events.
Wishes: More funding, better attendance at training events, stronger networking, better transport to cultural venues.
Wonders: Possibility of pub theatres, better tech solutions, a shared membership scheme, a Bucks Fringe Festival.

Challenges & Solutions Discussion

Top Voted Challenges:

Geographic size and connectivity across Bucks.
Understanding community appetite for culture.
Managing workload and avoiding overwhelm.

How Might We…?

Leverage Bucks’ geography for stronger cultural connections?
Gain deeper insights into community engagement with arts and culture?
Streamline cultural project delivery for better efficiency?

Successes (Rose), New Opportunities (Bud), and Challenges (Thorn)

Successes: Growth in cultural projects, strengthened networks, volunteer engagement, securing funding for historic preservation.
New Opportunities: Mentoring young creatives, environmental projects, new plays and exhibitions, collaboration with film studios.
Challenges: Overwhelming funding processes, time constraints, difficulty in marketing/sales, economic impact on visitor numbers.

Other Ideas for Impact

Guest speakers from community groups to provide direct insights.
Funding and grant seminars.
Networking events that bridge diverse cultural groups.
Exploring new income streams (retail, venue hire, events).
Training, mentoring, and upskilling young professionals.
Wellbeing sessions to support those working in the sector.
Developing a shared volunteer pool across cultural organisations.

The opportunity for partners to continue to share support needs, ideas for programme content, and ambitious project plans remains open.

You are invited to share ideas and input into programme content via Padlet. Please note, Padlet allocates quirky animal names to new users. Nothing to do with us, honest!

Click link below to share your ideas via Padlet ⬇️

Add your input to Creative Culture Conversation Padlet

Culture

Championing Culture

29th May 2025 buckinghamshireculture

Each year we ask our resident Buckinghamshire creative and cultural organisations to share some data about their work with us. We aggregate this and use the resulting headlines to advocate for culture in the county.

This year we’re changing the way we collect the annual snapshot from Bucks-based cultural organisations. We have built a new questionnaire to make it easier to share your data and stories, which all help build a collective picture of our impact. This will help us advocate for investment, partnership and recognition – and to shout about our collective achievements. We are sharing this now, encouraging organisations to think about their responses for the period from April 2024 – March 2025.

The Championing Culture Questionnaire can be found here:

Championing Culture Questionnaire

Culture, news

Help make Bucks Open Weekend 2025 bigger than ever!

15th May 2025 buckinghamshireculture

Open Weekend is back for 2025 – we want as many businesses, groups and organisations as possible to take part. Join in the fifth year of our vibrant, Bucks-wide event full of creative activities to try out and have a go! This year we will hold Open Weekend at the end of August – 28th-31st August 2025.

Are you a creative business, cultural organisation or artist looking to reach new audiences, test fresh ideas, and connect with like-minded organisations? Open Weekend is your opportunity to showcase your work, engage with communities, and grow your presence across Buckinghamshire.

With stories and nature as this year’s theme, you can inspire audiences with unique experiences that bring creativity to life. From ancient folklore and myth to personal reflections and artistic expressions, stories shape the way we experience nature—and nature, in turn, fuels our imagination and creativity. For creative businesses, this is more than an event—it’s an opportunity.

Taking part in Open Weekend is a great way to celebrate creativity, encourage people to try something new and be part of a county-wide showcase. How will you tell your story? Join us and make your mark on Open Weekend 2025.

Submissions for events/activities can be made from Thursday 15^th May to Monday 30^th June, using the online form at https://buckinghamshireculture.org/be-part-of-open-weekend/

Buckinghamshire Culture is pleased to be able to give out a limited amount of micro grants to support Open Weekend activities and to help make them accessible to all – find out more on our website.

Buckinghamshire Culture acts as an umbrella organisation for independently planned events presented by partner organisations. Getting involved and registering an event brings advantages for the organisers, including: a central ‘What’s On’ page, hosted by Bucks Culture, umbrella marketing, being part of a county-wide event. knowledge exchange and networking with other organisers.

This programme is supported through funding from Buckinghamshire Council and Rothschild Foundation and is delivered with support from Buckinghamshire Council.

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Creating Quality Video Content with the Digital Culture Network

31st March 202531st March 2025 buckinghamshireculture

6th of May – Online 1:15-2:30

Join Dean Shaw from Arts Council England’s, Digital Culture Network and learn how to create fun and engaging video content across online platforms.

We are delighted to welcome Dean Shaw to our series of sector networking sessions. This online learning session is devised to amplify your marketing approaches and work towards developing digital strategies to free up time and increase impact.

Dean is a Tech Champion at the Digital Culture Network (DCN) and set to share top tips on content creation and introduce you to the ACE , Digital Culture Network. The team at DCN are available to advise on all things digital from accessibility and ticketing to ecommerce and marketing.

Dean is expert in supporting others to create high quality digital content, increasing impact and making the most time spent online.

Join us for a fun and engaging session with opportunity for networking and conversations to explore how we can work together to increase reach and raise the profile of the great work happening in Bucks.

book here

Culture

Strengthening Partnerships & Supporting Collaboration

27th March 202531st March 2025 buckinghamshireculture

Our pool of connected creative and cultural organisations, creatives and freelancers has grown considerably since Bucks Culture began in 2019. In light of this we have been reviewing the best way to work together and support collaboration within the county.

Bucks Culture is excited to propose a refreshed partnership structure aimed at fostering deeper collaboration and amplifying the impact of the cultural sector in Buckinghamshire. This strategic evolution provides a dynamic framework to convene cultural leaders, organisations, and creatives, enabling a robust and thriving cultural landscape.

Introducing: the Bucks Cultural Consortium

At the heart of this renewed approach is the Bucks Cultural Consortium, a think-tank designed to provide strategic sector input, leadership, and support for creative delivery. This consortium brings together leading cultural organisations, venues, health partners, educational institutions, local councils, and independent creatives.

The Consortium aims to:

Enable cross-sector collaboration and strengthen existing networks.

Elevate the profile of Buckinghamshire’s cultural sector, attracting funding and investment.

Support talent development from grassroots to established professionals.

Develop funding relationships and explore new opportunities

Foster creative partnerships that drive innovation nurturing access and inclusion.

In time we aim to establish two dedicated working groups focussed on:

Strategic Development & Best Practice – Showcasing cultural excellence, identifying thematic conference content and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives. Linking to Access and Inclusion Manifesto, Stories and our regular Conference.

Funding, Outreach & Commercialisation – Exploring fundraising strategies, creative collaborative projects and embedding work in community settings.

Introducing: the Creative Culture Network

Recognising the unique challenges faced by small-scale arts organisations, micro-businesses, and independent creatives, Bucks Culture’s Creative and Cultural Network provides structured opportunities to build capacity, develop income streams, and enhance digital presence.

The network will operate through a number of open Sector Networking events each year, alongside two dedicated, peer-development workstreams:

Marketing & Digital Strategy – Helping participants craft compelling pitches, navigate digital tools, and optimise online presence. Linking to Sector Development Sessions.

Fundraising & Commercialisation – Equipping creatives with the skills to secure funding and develop new revenue streams.

Session dates are released over the year, blending online and in-person formats to maximise accessibility and engagement.

This evolution and formalisation of our network and partnership model does not preclude ad hoc meetings, forming project or issues-based groups or meetings, or other ways of working. We hope it will make communications more relevant and ensure that we are offering different services and opportunities relevant to need and capacity.

Let us know what you think...

Bucks Culture invites strategic partners, cultural leaders, and creatives to commit to these initiatives, attend working groups, and actively shape the cultural landscape of Buckinghamshire. By working together, we can increase sector impact, attract investment, and build a sustainable future for culture in the county.

To express interest or suggest topics for upcoming sessions, please get in touch. We look forward to collaborating with you to create a vibrant and inclusive cultural ecosystem in Bucks.

Culture, news

Bucks Spark Awards

27th March 2025 buckinghamshireculture

In November 2024, at our Cultural Collaboration Conference, Bucks Culture ran the first ever Bucks Spark Awards designed to showcase the great work that is taking place in our cultural sector. The judges where impressed by the quality of the submissions received and struggled to choose the winners. The submissions we received spanned the breadth of cultural delivery in our county:

From grass roots delivery to Paralympic heritage, blind-folded baroque experiences to street murals. Heritage-meets-astronomy, to a chair festival, open studios and diverse stories. Revealing hidden artists and a smatter of Shakespeare, music for care, dance for youth, writing from Marlow, and exploring Bucks landscape through a fine art lens…

We welcomed award-winning author, Claire Fuller to make the awards and Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Lady Howe to present the Judges’ Discretionary Award.

The Awards were made as follows:

Best collaboration

This award recognizes the best project, event or activity that has been delivered collaboratively (by at least two entities) to promote Buckinghamshire’s culture.

Winner – Vache Baroque and Milton’s Cottage

Runner up – Bucks Youth Dance Co and Wycombe Youth Action

Best exhibition

This award recognises excellence in exhibitions or displays related to an aspect of Buckinghamshire’s culture. It could include a new permanent exhibition or a temporary exhibition.

Winner – Fractured Land Collective

Runner up – Amersham Museum

Best Event

This award recognises excellence in a one-off event that has promoted Buckinghamshire’s culture. The event could have taken place digitally, within its own site, or at another location.

Winner – Unbound

Runner up – Astronomy UK

Judges discretionary award for ‘Contribution to Culture in Bucks’

This award was made at the Judges’ discretion and in respect of the scale and longevity of this particular Bucks event, celebrating its 40th year in 2025.

Winner – Bucks Art Weeks

We would like to thank every one who took the time to prepare and submit an application to the first ever Bucks Spark Awards, as well as our panel of Judges, and Claire Fuller and Lady Howe for presenting the awards.

Culture

Creative Collaboration Conference

27th March 2025 buckinghamshireculture

The Bucks Culture Creative Collaboration Conference took place in November 2024. The Conference successfully brought together professionals, creatives, and community leaders to explore the power of collaboration in the arts. Held at the newly opened Garsington Studios, the event provided an inspiring setting for insightful discussions, creative exploration, and networking opportunities. The conference aimed to facilitate meaningful conversations on the challenges and joys of creative collaboration while fostering new partnerships to enhance cultural engagement across Buckinghamshire.

The venue provided a beautiful backdrop to a cultural event that invited audiences to share insight into practice and disseminate learning to support future collaboration whilst providing opportunity for creative exploration.

The event was well attended and allowed Bucks Culture to work closely with new partners. The event supported sector-wide conversations surrounding the challenges and joys of creative collaboration both within the sector and beyond, and examined what it means to co-create with communities. The conference was established with the intention to connect, collaborate and co-create, an outcome we continue to pursue in the delivery of Buckinghamshire’s Cultural Strategy. Our 2024 event incorporated the inaugural Bucks Spark Award Ceremony, now set to be a regular feature of the cultural calendar.

We are proposing that future conferences be developed by a small group of key strategic partners working together to shape the format and programme the conference read more about the conference and feel free to send us your suggestions.

Process

Our partners, the board, the creative sector and the internal team were invited to make suggestions for the programme during board meetings, lead-in sector development sessions, and via the newsletter with a call for contributions surveyed online.

In addition to the open invitation for contributions the development of the programme was informed by feedback and evaluation from 2023, aiming to capture suggestions and implement changes to build a model better suited to the needs of audiences.

Three Words Analysis

This is what Chat GPT thought of responses to our ‘what 3 words describe your experience’ question.

The responses to the “three words” question reflect overwhelmingly positive experiences, with key themes emerging:

1. Inspiration & Engagement

Many attendees described the event as inspiring, engaging, thought-provoking, and enlightening. This suggests that the conference successfully delivered fresh perspectives and meaningful discussions, resonating with participants on both an intellectual and emotional level.

2. Networking & Connection

Words like welcoming, friendly, vibrant, connection, and collaborative indicate that the event fostered an inclusive and supportive environment for attendees to interact, share ideas, and build relationships.

3. Learning & Insight

Terms such as informative, insightful, educational, and paradigm-shifting reinforce the idea that the event provided valuable knowledge and challenged conventional ways of thinking.

4. Energy & Atmosphere

Words like dynamic, lively, fun, happy, and exciting suggest a positive and high-energy atmosphere, making the experience enjoyable beyond just the formal content.

5. Areas for Improvement

A few words, such as inaccessible, poorly attended, and tiring, indicate that some participants experienced challenges, possibly around accessibility, turnout, or event pacing. These could be key areas to address in future iterations.