Frome Festival – 25 for 25
Since 2001, Frome Festival’s mission has been to bring together our local community and celebrate Frome’s unique artistic spirit. We’ve worked closely with creatives across our town and beyond to deliver accessible arts activities for all ages, abilities and interests every July. Frome Festival 2025 included 278 events in 56 venues across the town, featuring concerts, shows, workshops, exhibitions and activities leading to over 30,000 engagements.
As we prepare for Frome Festival’s 25th anniversary in 2026, we’re celebrating a quarter of a century of being at the heart of Frome’s creative community whilst securing the future of this unique local arts programme. So, we’re launching 25 for 25 – a fundraising drive to raise £25,000 before Frome Festival 2026 launches on Friday 3rd July 2026.
And we need your help.
What will we do with this funding?
ENGAGE
Frome Festival 2025 featured 141 events with tickets priced free or up to £5, from family theatre, art sessions, dance workshops to outdoor performances. This funding will help to secure our accessible programme of activities, ensuring all in our community can engage with the arts.
EDUCATE
We’re relaunching education and community engagement projects at the heart of Frome Festival with a major project as a part of the 2026 programme. This funding will help us to develop activities in future years that work closely with schools and community groups, inspiring learners of all ages.
GROW
Frome Festival’s small office team of less than 1.0 FTE works across the year to deliver this programme of activities. This funding will allow the organisation to grow our team, providing new jobs for the local area and future proofing Frome Festival to ensure we have the team that can help us deliver this project for years to come.
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£25K Fundraising Tracker
Upcoming 25 for 25 Events
Photo Credit – Lillie Eiger
Fundraising Gig
The Tunnels
Sat 29 Nov
We’re launching our 25 for 25 campaign with a very special concert featuring three locally based acts; Tom Moth – best known as harpist for multi-platinum selling band Florence + The Machine – along with sets from folk duo māsa and brand-new soul/funk collective, The Juice.
John Hegley
Merlin Theatre
Sat 7 Feb
New and Selected potatoes is the spud-in-cheek title of the 2012 Bloodaxe compilation of 38 years work which is here added-to by further newness, focussing on the author’s educational work and drawings. Mandolin accompaniment has been retained, now alongside a train whistle from Didcot Railway Centre.
A long-time favourite of Frome Festival, John Hegley has for many years been involved in the creation of songs, poems, books, radio programmes, festival performances and cardboard animals. A former BBC on-line poet and poet in residence at Keats House, he was nominated for the Edinburgh Fringe Perrier Award and described in The Independent as ‘awesomely mundane’.
Monthly Fundraising Quiz
Cheese & Grain Bar
Wed 12 Nov
Frome Festival’s monthly fundraising quizzes have become a favourite for local quizzers and a great way to support Frome Festival.
Teams of up to 4 people can reserve a table by emailing office@fromefestival.co.uk (pre-booking is strongly recommended as these are popular events).
Wednesday 12 November 7.30pm at the Cheese & Grain Bar
£4 p/person (cash only, please)
Support Frome Festival
BECOME A FRIEND OF FROME FESTIVAL
There has never been a better time to become a Friend of Frome Festival. Thanks to support from Frome Town Council, we’ve upgraded our membership system and can now offer some exciting new perks.
Get access to priority booking for Frome Festival 2026 and receive amazing discounts from Raves from the Grave, Hunting Raven, Flow Bar and more.
And why not give the gift of membership to someone in your life who loves Frome’s unique arts scene?
Donate
No matter how big or how small, all contributions make a difference.
Fundraise
Are you inspired to run a fundraiser, or maybe a half marathon? Have a chat with the team if you can go the extra mile.
Legacies
If Frome Festival is close to your heart, consider leaving a gift to our charity for future generations to experience live arts in their community.