After our packed weekend at Winchester Hat Fair, we can’t resist naming Festival Director, Andrew Loretto, our ‘hero of the week’. As many of you will know, Hat Fair is the UK’s longest-running outdoor arts festival – it turns fifty years old in 2024 – and was subject to a dramatic Arts Council England funding cut in the last NPO round. As a festival with such a unique and important place in our sector ecology, this was a sad moment for outdoor arts.
Despite this pretty devastating news, Andrew and his team forged ahead and produced a carefully reimagined, but nonetheless full, playful and thrilling programme. The whole of the OAUK team was there and it was great for us to see first-hand the level of local enthusiasm and engagement with the festival, to hear the Winchester BID celebrating Hat Fair as a major asset to the city and witness how many local organisations are involved in the event, alongside the national and international outdoor arts programme.
Andrew is clearly well supported by his colleagues, not least Deryck Newland, CEO of Play to the Crowd, but an absolute tip of the metaphorical hat to Mr Loretto for his work and tenacity this year. Onwards!
