Looking Back at 2022 – A Year at Bath Festivals

We can hardly believe that another year is coming to an end and here at Bath Festivals it’s certainly be one to remember!

2022 was filled with unforgettable festival moments, from Party in the City’s return after a two year gap at The Bath Festival to Alice Oseman’s sold-out events at Bath Children’s Literature Festival. We also witnessed incredible performances from the young people involved in our Creative Learning programme and shared the magic of books across the globe through the Reading is Magic Festival.

Schools’ Voices

The 2022 Schools’ Voices project brought the community together and developed young people’s creative expression through song. We worked in collaboration with Bath Philharmonia and 11 local secondary schools to enable young people to work together to write a set of four songs, form a choir and perform these songs together at The Bath Festival. The first performance took place at St Swithin’s Church to open the festival as part of Party in the City and the second was at Bath Forum, accompanied by Bath Philharmonia and Royal Marines Band.

Michael Rosen at Bath Children’s Literature Festival

Bath Children’s Literature Festival 2022 kicked off with the legendary Michael Rosen and nearly 2,000 children and families in attendance across the two events at Bath Forum. He shared his latest book, Sticky McStickStick, telling the story of his long recovery after coronavirus.

Emily Gravett’s Reading is Magic Festival Event

So far, Emily Gravett’s creative and exciting Reading is Magic Festival event, Too Much Stuff!, has reached 43,000 children across the globe!* How many magpies do you think have been made?
*estimated based on 56% views being in classrooms of avg. 24 children

PJ Harvey’s World Exclusive at The Bath Festival

Renowned artist PJ Harvey was joined by author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers Max Porter at The Bath Festival and even gave a world exclusive reading of her new book, Orlam. 

Heartstopper Fans Filled the Guildhall

Alice Oseman fans were thrilled to share their affection for the smash-hit series Heartstopper at the sold-out event at Bath Children’s Literature Festival. Alice and Lauren were also joined by Juno Dawson for a second sold-out event, Scene to Screen, sharing their experiences of writing for TV and film.

Bath’s Biggest Free Party Returned!

After a two year gap, Bath’s biggest free party, Party in the City, returned in May with over 20,000 flocking to the city for music of all genres in venues across Bath from pubs to churches. The night was featured on ITV News!

Families Found Their Happy at the Happiness Hub

We teamed up with The Egg to bring the first ever Happiness Hub to Bath Children’s Literature Festival. Families popped in over the first weekend to be creative and explore what makes them happy.

Davina McCall Smashed Taboos

What a night we had with Davina McCall, Dr Naomi Potter and Angellica Bell at Bath Forum! Davina talked about her book, Menopausing, and inspired an audience of over 1,000 women in an intimate evening.

Local Schools Joined Bath Children’s Literature Festival

Thanks to support from sponsors and donations, we were able to give away 825 free tickets, 11 free coaches and 33 free books to local schools in BANES to enable them to bring more children to the festival. It was wonderful to see so many children and young people during the week getting excited about reading!

And that’s a wrap on 2022! It’s been an incredible year and we’re so grateful to everyone who helped make it all happen. There’s lots to come in the new year, so watch this space and see you in 2023!

From all of us at Bath Festivals, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!