Tag: stories

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Stories 2: Call out for Expressions of Interest

buckinghamshireculture
outdoor performance with fire and an audience

We are excited to invite organisations and creatives from across Buckinghamshire to share their ideas and express their interest in collaborating in an innovative developmental partnership that explores co-creation as a powerful way to bring local stories to life through creativity. Building on the success of Together We Build, this initiative will explore new creative approaches to storytelling. Heritage and cultural organisations will be paired with artists and creative practitioners to uncover and share important local stories in fresh, engaging, and imaginative ways.

This project does not yet have funding. The Expression of Interest (EOI) process will help shape the application that Bucks Culture submits to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

We want to support innovative collaborations that bring locally significant community memories, cultural traditions, and heritage to life. By capturing and sharing these stories, the project aims to safeguard them for future generations, ensuring that lived experiences continue to inform, inspire, and strengthen our local communities.

Oral histories are a rich source of knowledge, insight, and creativity, and they will sit at the heart of the Stories 2 project. Through meaningful partnerships, the project will enable organisations to uncover, amplify, and celebrate hidden local stories and engage under-represented audiences using creative and inclusive approaches to storytelling, participation, and interpretation.

Projects may draw on existing oral history collections or generate new recordings. All activity should be rooted in co-creation with communities, ensuring that participants help shape both the process and the outcomes. Outputs could include exhibitions, installations, performances, digital works, workshops, or public events designed to engage diverse audiences and extend the reach and impact of these stories.

Programme Aims

To protect and celebrate Buckinghamshire’s community heritage by:

  • Uncovering and safeguarding oral histories that reflect and celebrate Buckinghamshire’s diverse communities, particularly community memories, cultural traditions and stories at risk of being lost.
  • Championing inclusive creative practice in working with oral histories and community memory, enabling under-represented or under-engaged audiences to shape, interpret, and share their heritage.
  • Fostering meaningful collaboration between heritage organisations, artists, and communities.
  • Building skills and confidence in cross-sector partnership working to strengthen sustainable, long-term relationships.

Who Can Apply

We welcome applications from arts, heritage, and culture organisations that want to explore stories and oral histories.  Eligible applicants include formally constituted organisations and community-led heritage groups. To apply, groups must have:

  • A governing document (e.g., constitution)
  • A committee or Board
  • A bank account in the organisation’s name with two signatories

Applicants may apply either:

  • With a creative or heritage partner already confirmed, or
  • Without a partner, in which case the project team can help broker a suitable collaboration.  Please reach out for a conversation to Guy: Guy@buckinghamshirecuture.org

All collaborations must work with a specific under-engaged audience group—people who currently have limited access to or participation in heritage activities due to factors such as geography, age, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic background, or cultural relevance.

What We’re Looking For

Successful proposals will:

  • Clearly explain which community memories, cultural traditions, and stories will be uncovered and why they matter locally. Priority will be given to stories at risk of being lost.
  • Focus on oral history, whether drawing on existing collections or generating new recordings.
  • Provide a compelling idea for creative collaboration with an artist or creative collective that empowers communities and brings local stories to life.
  • Identify a specific under-represented or under-engaged audience and a thoughtful plan for reaching and involving them in co-creation.
  • Evidence a commitment to inclusion, ethical practice, and community voice.
  • Demonstrate organisational capacity to host and support the project successfully.

Projects can be of any scale appropriate to your organisation and community and should be achievable within the available budget and timeframe.

Support Available

Assuming our funding application is successful, each selected partnership will receive:

  • Project grant: £2,000-£10,000 tbc (to cover artist fees, materials, production costs, engagement activities, and evaluation) for a 6-12 month delivery period.
  • Overarching Project Co-ordinator to oversee and assist with troubleshooting and engagement.
  • Training and professional support for both heritage and creative partners – likely to cover co-creation, inclusive practice, oral histories, ethics.
  • Access to a learning network of participating organisations and artists.
  • Opportunities for showcasing and shared dissemination at regional and national level.

Indicative Project Timeline

Call-out opens                                               30th March 2026

Expression of Interest deadline                    30th April 2026

Funding application submission date           Summer 2026

Decision-making period                               8 weeks

Project delivery period                                 Autumn 2026-Summer 2028 tbc

Expression of Interest Form

Please find the Expression of Interest form here:

Stories 2 Expression of Interest Form FinalDownload

Completed Expression of Interest forms should be returned to Guy: Guy@buckinghamshireculture.org by 9am, 30th April 2026.

Contact Details

If you have questions about this invitation, wish to discuss your project with a team member, or need help to find the right partner, please reach out to Guy: Guy@buckinghamshireculture.org

Please contact us if you require this information in alternative formats.

We are happy to accept applications through alternative formats suited to your needs including a film (no longer than 10 minutes) or an audio recording (no longer than 10 minutes).

Culture

Explore creativity, stories and nature this August with Bucks Open Weekend

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Open Weekend banner

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

Championing Culture

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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!

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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 15th May to Monday 30th 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.

Culture

Creative Collaboration Conference

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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. 

Overall Takeaway 

The conference was largely seen as an engaging and enriching experience, successfully fostering inspiration, connection, and learning.

Culture

You are invited… Village Stories

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Hundreds of residents invited to take part in epic photo project this Summer – sharing our STORIES project

On the left a Breugel paining, on the right, a modern photo of people walking on a grey background

This July community meetings will take place in three ‘villages’ across Buckinghamshire, inviting local residents to be part of large-scale photographs.  These meetings will be the start of our Village Stories strand, which aims to create new portraits of modern villages through photography and writing.  Residents in Burnham, Brill and Fairford Leys (a village within Aylesbury) are invited to join in. 

Photographer Camilla Greenwell and choreographer Theo Clinkard have devised this celebratory photo project inspired by the works of 16th-century Flemish artist, Pieter Bruegel the Elder.  These famous and often humorous images are bustling with life and full of characters and incidents.  They show people at work and leisure, individuals and groups, old and young.  The project asks who lives in our villages now?  And how can we capture the vibrant life of these communities?  We are inviting 100+ local residents and those connected to these villages to take part in the project in each location.  It will be simple and fun and take only a couple of hours, on one day in September. Participants will be given some easy ideas and tasks to create a gesture or action to capture the essence of the place they live in.

Photo of Burnham Village, a man and a woman stand in the foreground.

In addition to the photoshoots we are also offering writing workshops with authors, including Costa Novel Award winning novelist Claire Fuller.

If you, your family or group would like to take part in Village in one of the three locations across Bucks this Summer please use this link to sign up: https://buckinghamshireculture.org/village-stories/

Village Stories is just one strand of our multi-faceted STORIES programme in 2024.  We are inviting residents across Bucks to take part in creative and cultural activities that explore what makes this county unique: its people, heritage, natural environment and histories. STORIES will grow and develop over the next years into a festival-like series of events and participation opportunities. From June to November 2024, we kick off with three pilot projects, stretching across the county from Buckingham in the north to the Chilterns in the South, with events in woodlands as well as village and town centres, from projects that see artists researching in local archives, to mass participation in local villages. 

Alongside Village Stories, in 2024 we will deliver:

Archive Stories, which will see a new disabled artist collective led by poet Ellen Renton working with Arden Fitzroy, Guy Morris, Jess Starns and Noor-e-Sehar Ali, investigate the National Paralympic Heritage Trust archive and the National Disability Art Collection & Archive to inspire the creation of new artworks. 

FiresideStories, which will bring three outdoor performances by circus and theatre artists Nikki & JD and Lost Dog Dance to local spaces and woodland settings, telling a story of monsters and what makes us afraid, in a family-friendly performances with real fire.  In each location additional wrap-around events will make the evening special.

To find out more about the STORIES programme, visit our website: https://buckinghamshireculture.org/stories/

Theo Clinkard, Choreographer says: 

“I can’t wait to tell new stories with local folk who are up for the challenge of making a huge artwork together, one that captures both the physical fact of this place and this moment in time, but also the collective imagination of the people that live here” 

Eckhard Thiemann, STORIES Creative Associate said:

“Village is just such a brilliantly simple and creative idea: A rallying call to leave your home or work for a moment to congregate and create an action-filled snapshot of yourself, your community, your location and this moment in time. Let Buckinghamshire’s village life become as famous and loved as Breugel’s Flemish scenes from nearly 500 years ago.”

Clive Harriss, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture & Leisure said:

“We are very pleased to be supporting the development of Buckinghamshire Culture’s STORIES project, we are excited to see what is produced and where it goes next!  With so many villages making up our landscape in Bucks it feels appropriate to put village life in the spotlight!”

STORIES 2024 is made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England, Rothschild Foundation, Buckinghamshire Council, National Paralympic Heritage Trust, National Lottery Heritage Fund and supported by a range of committed partners across the county.

news

Discover Something Extraordinary

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Discover something extraordinary this July with Open Weekend

Everyone is invited to explore their creativity, and our varied county, during our jam-packed Open Weekend, 25th-28th July. With 34 contributors running 54 events across Bucks, there is plenty to enjoy. You can take part in free or low-cost activities and maybe try something new or go somewhere you have not been before!

Photograph shows four musicians dressed as superheroes and all carrying instruments
Vache Baroque, History of Sounds

Whether you are looking for something to do with little ones, a chance to try a new artform, time to learn, or time to chill out – there is plenty to choose from. This year’s fantastic programme includes opportunities to watch or join in with singing, dancing, music-making, crafting and much more. You might also visit an exhibition, listen to an author interview, enjoy live music, join a themed tour or explore local heritage. Events are taking place in person across the county, and online too.

See the Buckinghamshire Culture website for the full listing: www.buckinghamshireculture.org/open-weekend-whats-on and follow #BucksOpenWeekend and #TogetherWeCelebrate for social media updates.

This year organisations will be offering a wide range of activities on the theme of Together We Celebrate, inspired by the Paris Olympics and Paralympics 2024. Buckinghamshire has an extra special reason to celebrate as it is the proud birthplace of the Paralympic movement, and this year we have asked our event organisers to think about how they can honour this heritage. This year Open Weekend will be part of Buckinghamshire Council’s wider Together We Celebrate programme of activities and exhibitions themed around our shared advocacy of diversity, inclusivity and accessibility taking place throughout the summer.

A celebration of togetherness runs through all of the 2024 Open Weekend events, and some are offering particular activities to make your own medal (at Hughenden), design a Paralympic poster (at Aylesbury Library), or explore Paralympic artefacts and stories through a new Virtual Museum (online via the National Paralympic Heritage Trust). Please join us in celebrating the power of art and culture to bring people together and develop inclusion and understanding.

Photograph shows five participants from Missenden Walled Garden sitting on wooden benches and showing the vegetables they have picked
Missenden Walled Garden

Bill Morris, Buckinghamshire Culture’s Chair says: “We are so pleased and proud that once again organisations and individuals across Bucks have put together a programme of fantastic events. It is wonderful to see so many activities promoting inclusion and togetherness, and in a Games year, its extra special to celebrate our unique role in creating the Paralympic movement.”

Ruth Page, Buckinghamshire Council’s Head of Culture said: “Open Weekend is a brilliant way to celebrate the range of creative and cultural things you can do in Bucks. It is great to see so many activities taking place with the theme of ‘Together We Celebrate’ and showing how we can lead the way for access and inclusion.”

Open Weekend is made possible thanks to funding from the Rothschild Foundation and Buckinghamshire Council. It is co-ordinated by Buckinghamshire Culture and is delivered in partnership with organisations and creatives across the county.

Garden stepping stones containing mosaic and gem stones on a bed of bark chippings
Garden Stones created by Feedback Global

Further Information

Buckinghamshire Culture

Buckinghamshire Culture is the creative and cultural partnership for the county, developed to drive forward the Buckinghamshire Cultural Strategy. Building an inclusive, uplifting and supportive creative hub, we connect, build and nourish creative individuals and organisations. We share and celebrate the value of creativity and culture to everyone’s lives – embedding it across essential agendas. We harness the power of working together through collaboration and partnership, shaping joint projects that support happier and healthier lives for our residents. Together, we can better celebrate and share stories of our communities and county. More information on Buckinghamshire Culture: https://buckinghamshireculture.org/

Together We Celebrate programme coordinated by Buckinghamshire Council

To mark the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games, we are once again asking Buckinghamshire’s communities to join us and our partners in celebrating the county’s unique and proud Paralympic heritage. Our collaborative approach aims to bring like-minded partners, organisations, and communities together to recognise Buckinghamshire as the birthplace of the Paralympic movement. A series of activities and exhibitions themed around our shared advocacy of diversity, inclusivity and accessibility will take place throughout the summer as Together We Celebrate. More information on Together We Celebrate: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/events/together-we-celebrate-2024/

Culture

STORIES receives Arts Council Funding

buckinghamshireculture
Fireside by Nikki & JD and Lost Dog Dance

Buckinghamshire residents are invited to explore the power of stories and join walks, fireside performances, story-telling and village portraits this Summer/Autumn. There will be a range of community-focussed activities across the county as Buckinghamshire Culture pilots STORIES, a programme that aims to shine a light on the rich history and life of the county, thanks to public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

In this first year of STORIES activity, we and our partners, will work with artists, communities and other organisations to develop our ideas. Taking inspiration from our beautiful natural landscapes, our pilot season will include performances of Fireside by Nikki & JD in several Buckinghamshire locations. Inspired by the Paralympic story we will recruit d/Deaf and disabled artists to form an artist collective working with Ellen Renton, spoken-word artist and poet, to create new work. And inspired by the nature of our county as a place of small towns and villages, we will celebrate the nature of community through village portraits created by Theo Clinkard Dance, captured in photographs by Camilla Greenwell and new writing from a range of writers.

Stories Creative Associate, Eckhard Thiemann, says: “STORIES is an invitation for residents and visitors to discover and participate in new cultural experiences in places that make the county unique. We take panoramic shots of modern village life, animate natural beauty spots through performance, and delve into the important history of paralympic heritage. The outcome will be new stories to remember, to share and to inspire us.”

Clive Harriss, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure & Culture said: “Buckinghamshire Council is pleased to support this new initiative being run by Buckinghamshire Culture. Projects like this do so much to bring the arts to life in our local communities, allowing people to watch and participate in new cultural experiences which entertain and inspire all ages. The funding we are providing helps to ensure that everyone is able to access and enjoy something exciting in their local area.”

During this pilot Season we will work with a number of communities in local villages. We will partner with a range of organisations, including BuDs, National Disability Arts Collection and Archive, National Paralympic Heritage Trust among others.
We will be sharing opportunities for commissions and volunteering as the year progresses, please keep an eye out on social media if you are interested in collaborating with us.

Following this period of exploration, we will continue to work with artists and communities to weave together stories of people, places, histories and future dreams to celebrate unique places and moments across the county. We aim to share further STORIES work with residents across 2025 and 2026.

STORIES Season 1 is made possible thanks to public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and support from Buckinghamshire Council, National Paralympic Heritage Trust, Rothschild Foundation and a number of other partners.

A still from Within Sight showing Ellen Renton running through parkland towards the viewer, down a straight path lined with trees.
Culture

Archive STORIES

buckinghamshireculture

Call Out to D/deaf and Disabled Artists

Paid Opportunity

Application Deadline: Tuesday 7th May, 2024, 5pm

We invite performers (theatre, dance, circus), musicians, composers, spoken word artists, writers, poets, visual and digital artists to apply.

We are looking for up to four artists from a variety of disciplines, to be part of an artist collective with writer, poet and spoken word artist Ellen Renton, to create new works based on the exploration of Paralympic and Disability Arts archives in Buckinghamshire. The project is called Archive STORIES. We are particularly keen to hear from artists based in Buckinghamshire or neighbouring counties or artists with a strong connection to Buckinghamshire. This is a paid opportunity.

Archive STORIES coincides with this summer’s Paralympic Games in Paris and forms part of Buckinghamshire Culture’s new season of STORIES, a pilot season of events and activities taking place across Buckinghamshire between May and November 2024.

Please see our Call Out form for more information and to apply. This link contains all the details that you need to know in advance of an application, and a form to gather your application responses. Please click here to apply https://forms.gle/uWNSfh5zypCcYiJr8

You can also download the Call Out document, as either a Word or PDF below. These documents contain the same information as the Google Form.

For further information or assistance please email: Ursula White (Engagement Producer) ursula@buckinghamshireculture.org

PDF:

archive-stories_ddeaf_disabled-artist_call-out-finalDownload

Word document:

archive-stories_ddeaf_disabled-artist_call-out-final-word-docDownload
Culture

Summer of Stories

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Illustration of a lion and rabbit

Buckinghamshire’s ‘Summer of Stories’ is well and truly underway – but there’s still time for you to get involved!

This summer, Buckinghamshire Culture and Buckinghamshire Council have been working together to create a Summer of Stories, focusing on a theme of ‘stories of happiness’. The ‘Story Stall’ is part of this multi-stranded project aiming to engage people across Buckinghamshire with stories and creativity.  Inspired by our strong literary heritage this project will result in animation of town centres, activity supporting wellbeing, enhancing quality of life and maintaining connection as part of wider Covid recovery.  Residents of Buckinghamshire have been invited to share and celebrate their personal stories, and those of the county itself, through conversations with artists, or via ‘Story Postcards’ at artist-led pop-up stalls across the county in markets and local high streets and at various cultural and library locations.

These stalls have been present at various events throughout the summer, starting with Whizzfizzfest on the 26th June and moving around the county since then, engaging with lots of different people from the local community – and the stories told have been just as diverse as the people telling them!

One resident recounted a tale of a man who had turned an old mattress into a paddle board and was happily rowing himself down the canal, whilst another resident reflected on the fact that the pandemic had meant he was able to get out every morning to take his dog for a walk, enjoying the local parks around the county, and being able to make it home for dinner with his 12 year old son every evening – something he had never been able to do before then.

Other recurring themes within people’s stories of happiness and tales of Buckinghamshire included a love for the red kites that circle our skies, for woodlands and parks and the canal in Aylesbury.

When summer fades, these local stories will not be forgotten; the artists who collected them will create a pop-up storytelling structure that will visit town centres around Buckinghamshire in the early Autumn – sharing a collective story of the county.

It’s not too late to get involved with the Summer of Stories! If you would like to get involved and share a story of happiness, or a story of Buckinghamshire, you can find the final few pop-up stalls in the following locations:

  • Winslow Market on 25th August, 8:30am-2pm
  • Live in the Park, Aqua Vale Park, Aylesbury on 28th August, 9am-5:30pm
  • Black Park, Wexham on 29th August, 10am-4pm
  • Beaconsfield Country Fair, Beaconsfield on 30th August, 9:30am-5pm
Story Stall setup at Hgh Wtcombe Market

Or pick up a postcard from one of our participating libraries or cultural organisations.  There is the option to submit a story on our website, or find out more on social media using #SummerofStories.

Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, Clive Harriss, said:

“The Summer of Stories has been a great way of engaging with the wider community and encouraging people to come together and share good news during what has been a difficult 18 months. I’m sure the artists have heard plenty of heart-warming stories about Buckinghamshire and it’s residents, and I look forward to seeing the final structure created by the artists in the Autumn!”

For more information about the Summer of Stories, visit: www.buckinghamshireculture.org/Summer-of-Stories

This programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England, and funding from Buckinghamshire Council, Heart of Bucks and Rothschild Foundation.