At Bucks Culture, our work brings culture to life across the county—impacting communities, connecting partners, and earning recognition for excellence.
We proudly shaped the 2024 STORIES pilot season, through which community performances, village portraits, new writing and co‑created works connected local people with Buckinghamshire’s Paralympic heritage and everyday stories of place.
Our Bucks Spark Awards, launched at the 2024 Creative Collaboration Conference at Garsington Studios, honoured outstanding contributions to culture in Buckinghamshire. Winners included Vache Baroque and Milton’s Cottage for Best Collaboration, Fractured Land Collective for Best Exhibition, and Unbound Theatre for Best Event. Our Contribution to Culture in Bucks award went to Bucks Art Weeks, celebrating its 40‑year legacy. The Spark Awards are now firmly part of the county’s cultural calendar.
Our biennial Cultural Conference brings together cultural professionals, artists and community leaders around co‑creation and partnership. Most recently held in November 2024 at the newly opened Garsington Studios, it inspired new connections, shared sector insight, and included the inaugural Spark Awards ceremony.
Our annual Bucks Open Weekend continues to expand, with 34 contributors hosting 54 free or low‑cost events during July 2024 and another 50 planned for 2025. Activities ranged from storytelling and craft‑making to Paralympic‑themed creative sessions, all engaging people across age groups in celebration of community and creativity.
Our advocacy and strategic partnerships have also secured major investment. In July 2025, Buckinghamshire Culture helped secure a sizeable Arts Council England grant to support the “Place Partnerships High Wycombe” initiative. Over three years, this investment will support local artists, venues, workshops and live community events—and deliver a new cultural hub in the town.
We are working with Shape Arts, National Paralympic Heritage Trust and Rothschild Foundation to drive forward inclusive practice in Bucks cultural organisations, and this year will deliver a Disability Access Summit to align to Shape Arts’ Shape Open which is coming to High Wycombe for the first time in 2025. This event will include a number of access champion speakers, as well as workshop activity to refresh and re-frame our Access and Inclusion Manifesto for Culture.
Together, these achievements show how we foster connection, grow capacity, recognise excellence, and invest in culture that matters—across Bucks today and tomorrow.
We are very pleased to present our Sharing Successes document which brings together our story so far and information on what we have delivered in support of a thriving cultural sector for Bucks. You can download the document here: