Salisbury International Arts Festival 2022
The Salisbury International Arts Festival is back and it’s bigger and better than ever!
The 47th festival will run from 27th May to 18th June 2022, following an enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There will be three weeks of daring, diverse, and highly entertaining events. From music to theatre and family-friendly free events, there is something for all ages.
Here are some of the highlights you won’t want to miss:
Music events at Salisbury International Arts Festival
A very special night of music will launch the 2022 Salisbury Arts Festival. The world première of Stone Songs at Salisbury Cathedral was meant to kick-off the festival programme in 2022 but was put on hold when Covid-19 hit. Stone Songs is a new choral work inspired by the Medieval chants that have resonated from the Cathedral’s stones since the 13th century.
Salisbury Cathedral will host Stone Songs and the Jubilee Concert
Festival-goers will be able to celebrate the Queen’s historic 70 years on the throne on 28th May, when the Jubilee Concert takes place. Also at Salisbury Cathedral, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra will perform a programme inspired by the music performed in Westminster Abbey at the Queen's Coronation. There are still tickets available for the unreserved aisles. Click here for tickets.
Don’t forget your dancing shoes for the festival closing party on 18th June. Taking inspiration from a traditional Greek island Panigiri festival, there will be food, live music and dancing as well as local arts and craft stalls and demonstrations. You can find more information here.
Enjoy a Panigiri at Salisbury Arts Festival
Family events at Salisbury Arts Festival 2022
Join the fun at the Bemerton Beach Party on 28th May. The free event at Pinewood Way Green will start with a Fun Run followed by an afternoon at the beach. You’ll get to enjoy street theatre, seaside sports and crafts, tasty treats and much more! Want to take part in the Fun Run? Click here for details.
Salisbury city centre will come alive with entertainment over the special jubilee Bank Holiday as the popular and very colourful City Encounters returns for 2022. The free event on 2nd and 3rd June includes street theatre, dance and enjoyment for the whole family! Click here for the full line-up.
City Encounters will return for 2022
You better watch out for the pirates on June 12th when the Arts Festival Treasure Hunt takes place around the city centre. Follow the ancient map to discover each island location and join in with some fun pirate activities! This is one the children will love, and it’s free! You can find the map and more details here.
Nightwalks with Teenagers is a community project for the festival that involves local youth. The youngsters have planned and designed public walks through the city at night to explore the urban landscape. On 10th and 11th June, they will then lead these walks, inviting teens and adults to have a unique social experience in a shared place and time whilst focusing on the power of walking together. This one is for those aged 14 and above. Click here for information.
Take part in Nighwalks with Teenagers around Salisbury
Enjoy theatre, talks and comedy at Salisbury Arts Festival
You may have seen her on Taskmaster and QI, now Lou Sanders will be entertaining festival crowds with her hilarious and shockingly honest new show One Word: Wow. During lockdown, Lou realised that her dedication to comedy had left her with few hobbies and few friends outside the comedy circuit. What was the answer? To take up roller-skating! Find out what happened in this new show. Book tickets here.
The talented Lord Chamberlain’s Men return to Salisbury Cathedral Close with an outdoor performance of the sparkling comedy, As You Like It. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men are one of the UK’s finest touring theatre companies with a history stretching back to William Shakespeare himself and they'll present this great play as Shakespeare first saw it performed - in the open air, by an all-male cast and with Elizabethan costumes, music and dance. See it on 10th and 11th June.
The award-winning historian, author and broadcaster David Olusoga will appear at Salisbury Playhouse on 16th June to explore the extraordinarily long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa and the Caribbean. In Black and British: A Forgotten History, David confronts taboos and revealing scandals as he describes how the lives of black and white Britons have been entwined for centuries.
David Olusoga will appear at part of Salisbury International Arts Festival 2022
As well as all these events, there are also films, exhibitions, workshops and lots of weird and wonderful shows (including punk-pop juggling!) to enjoy. Find them all on our dedicated Arts Festival page here.
Need somewhere to stay during the Salisbury Arts Festival? Find accommodation options on the Experience Salisbury SLEEP pages.
Come join the celebrations!