History of the festival

How did we start ?

History of the Festival

In almost three decades, Arts Alive has grown from a low-key local event to one of the largest annual community arts festivals in the South East.

Arts Alive was started by Mole Valley District Council in 1997, as a community festival. It evolved from the MVDC 1988 Festival of the Arts. The aim was to encourage everybody to participate in local arts, and there were around sixty events. The majority were talks, presentations and live music.

In 1997 Arts Alive ran for two weeks, and attracted 35 groups and artists. Over the years it grew in popularity, and was extended to six weeks. 2019 saw the biggest festival to date, with 93 events.

In 2020 in response to Covid-19 restrictions, the festival moved online. Many regular event holders took on the challenge to deliver live or recorded content, and attracted new event holders offering digital content. ‘Arts e-Live’ that year delivered more than fifty events, the majority of which were free to view; and the festival was delighted to win Best Arts Project in the National Campaign for the Arts’ ‘Hearts for the Arts’ Awards 2021.

The Festival is now in its 27th year and running from 1-31 October each year, with launches in September and a Finale in early November.