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Cheltenham Festivals Celebrates 80th Year with Campaign to Inspire 80,000 Children

Cheltenham Festivals has today revealed its year-round campaign to gift the joy of arts and culture to 80,000 children in its 80th year.

The charity will campaign year-round to reach a record number of children, working with funders, corporate Partners, Patrons, local businesses and communities to spark a lifelong curiosity for literature, music and science, and reaffirm its enduring commitment to changing lives through culture.  

The pledge forms part of Cheltenham Festivals’ 80th anniversary celebrations since the inception of its founding Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, and will pay homage to its legacy as instigator of the post-war arts festival movement.  
Since 1945, Cheltenham Festivals has expanded its offering from three classical music concerts in Pittville Pump Rooms to include four world-renowned Literature, Science, Music and Jazz Festivals, as well as learning and participation programmes that bring arts into schools and communities around the world. For the first time, Cheltenham Music Festival will host a Relaxed Concert for Families, increasing access to the arts in an inclusive environment. Additionally, in 2025 the charity will reach as far as Antarctica through its flagship science communication programme, FameLab.  

Since 2005, FameLab has brought together over 40,000 of the best emerging voices in science in an accessible and inclusive environment and revolutionised science communication in schools through FameLab Academy, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year.  
The announcement comes at a time where recent findings from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Frontier Economics have shown cultural engagement ‘significantly boosts health and wellbeing’ in the UK, with a benefit of ‘approximately £8 billion annually’ to the UK economy.   

Ali Mawle, Co-CEO at Cheltenham Festivals said: “Beyond its four beloved Festivals across the year, Cheltenham Festivals as a charity works tirelessly year-round to give young people access to arts and culture. But the generosity of our funders and partners is vital in enabling us to do so. On the occasion of our 80th birthday, with the support of local businesses, Festival-goers, Patrons and corporate Partners who are aligned with our charitable mission, we are looking to ensure that we can continue to inspire the next generation and to reach more children than ever before and enrich lives through culture.”    

More information about Cheltenham Festivals year-round learning and participation and outreach work can be found here.   

Explore Gloucestershire
30 January 2025

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