DON’T MISS MELBOURNE FESTIVAL ART & ARCHITECTURE TRAIL

Melbourne is a great place to visit at any time but Melbourne Festival in September is the best weekend of the year! This is the year when Melbourne Festival (and Wirksworth Festival) jumps back so save the dates Saturday 20^th & Sunday 21^st September for Melbourne Festival Art & Architecture Trail. The reputation of Melbourne Festival continues growing and with a combination of high-quality art by regional artists and alongside fun for families, fantastic food (something that Melbourne is proud of all year round!) and live music at Busk Stops around the Trail there is something for everyone.

Put on your walking shoes and have a great weekend, this year there will 170 artists exhibiting on the Art & Architecture Trail including many who have exhibited before and some exciting new artists including a number who we have seen on television including Tom Voyce the winner of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year in 2017 who is currently Artist in Residence at Repton School, Giles Davies and Mark Langley who were both runners up, and Natalie Dawn Sims Rees the Runner Up on the 2025 Great Pottery Throwdown. A lot of fabulous venues are open this year including the Dower House Garden and Melbourne Hall is giving free entry to visitors with Festival wristbands all weekend.

Alongside the Artists there are a number of “Artist Led” activities over the weekend. Members of the Derbyshire Toyota City Partnership will be engaging visitors to help create a “Senbazuru” – an installation of a 1000 paper origami cranes, the cranes are said to bring good luck, peace and wellbeing to the people who join in.

The Festival Team are also launching an exciting project “Melbourne Festival Coming of Age” a series of activities celebrating people and the journey the Festival has taken to reach the milestone of the 21st Melbourne Festival in 2026. We will let into the secret that the Festival Team are working closely with Melbourne Hall who will be showing examples of work by created by Ronald Pope an Artists & Sculptor who lived in Melbourne in the second half of the twentieth century, this work will be used to inspire work by professional and amateur artists to create an exhibition and Sculpture Trail in August & September 2026.

Live music has always been popular at Melbourne Festival and this year they are hosting FESTIVITY a pop-up Festival of music, poetry and storytelling led by Arts Derbyshire and funded a National Lottery Project Grant from Arts Council England. At the Busk Stops this year there will be performances by regional musicians and home-grown talent from Melbourne Town Band and Melbourne Operatic encouraging people to “have a go”! Children won’t miss out on opportunities this year as MusicTime will be in the Vicarage Garden at lunchtime both days.

This year the Melbourne Festival Team at Creative Melbourne Gallery have been working closely with local schools to create work inspired by Alice in Wonderland and Melbourne landmarks, you will be able to find some of the work in the Vicarage Garden at Melbourne Parish Church. For families wanting to recharge their batteries there is a Treasure Trail, and Book House Story Stop is hosting two children’s writers – Poet Attie Lime and writer and Illustrator Kirsty reading their work to young visitors.

Don’t take our word for what a great weekend is instore t Melbourne Festival go along and see for yourselves! This year’s Melbourne Festival will be open to the public from 10-5 on Saturday 20^th Sunday 21^st September, charity car parks are available at Melbourne Schools & Tori & Bens Farm Shop from 9.30 each day. Wristbands and Trail Guides are for Sale on the day at £5 per adult, head for Creative Melbourne Gallery in Church Street DE73 8EJ or look out for Wristband Sellers around the Trail.

To keep up to date with plans and for details of performances and workshops visit www.melbournefestival.co.uk.