Good Grief Weston is back! Now in its third edition, this year’s festival offers four days of vibrant events and activities that open up compassionate conversations around death, dying and bereavement across North Somerset.
This is our most varied programme yet, offering a huge range of ways to take part whatever your interests or comfort zone. You can join a workshop, see a play or film, lose yourself in poetry, ask a question at the Grief Market, get a haircut and tell a story to a biking barber — or simply share a cup of tea at our Festival Hub.
Thanks to generous support from NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board, this year’s programme brings together more local creatives and communities than ever, building relationships that can continue beyond the festival. Local organisations — including Weston General Hospital, Alliance Homes, North Somerset Libraries and Weston Hospicecare — contribute too, with everything from thought-provoking exhibitions to a striking Day of the Dead installation created by makers from Weston’s South Ward.
Nature is also part of the story. Walk together through Weston Woods, discover the wisdom of nettles at Backwell Common, tend the garden at Weston Hospice or place a light of remembrance beside Weston Marine Lake as part of In Between Time’s glittering installation We Are Warriors.
Elsewhere, the award‑winning Catalan street theatre company Kamchàtka brings its exploration of displacement to Weston’s streets, while members of Weston’s Afro-Caribbean community share the tradition of Nine Nights. Weston Hospicecare also hosts a discussion on different religious perspectives on death and remembrance.
Music runs through the weekend, from a starlit tribute to David Bowie’s Blackstar to Costanzi Consort’s 500-year journey through choral remembrance. On Sunday, the Memento Mori Disco invites you to dance to a joyful playlist of artists who have died, but whose music lives on.
While the Festival is warm and welcoming, we know that exploring grief can bring a range of emotions. With support from Weston Hospicecare, a safe space will be available at events, alongside signposting to further support.
Good Grief Weston offers moments of connection, creativity and solace — and sparks conversations that continue long after the Festival ends.
Take a look at a previous year’s Good Grief Weston in this festival film created by Paul Collins.
