About Us
We bring our history to life for everyone.
Each year in September the city of Gloucester comes alive for a two week festival to celebrate the city’s rich history, heritage and culture. An additional Spring Weekend of talks takes place in April and the King’s Talks take place all year round.
The festival celebrates local, national and international history through a highly acclaimed programme of Blackfriars Talks; the Voices Gloucester programme of workshops, performances, tours, parades, re-enactments and digital content; the 29th celebration of Heritage Open Days in 2024 and the much loved Gloucester Day, to give people the chance to learn from the past and shape their life today for the future.
Now in its 14th year, Gloucester History Festival is very much a 21st Century Festival that embraces technology to encourage as many people to join in as possible.
We aim to bring history to life – exciting and inspiring new audiences from our city and beyond – and developing people’s understanding of the world, both past and present.
We aspire to create a flagship festival for the city that local communities are proud of and that empowers all generations to explore history.
Come and be part of it!
We want our history festival to make a difference.
We want to become the UK’s leading history festival, widely recognised for our high quality, exciting programme that explores and celebrates local, national and international history. We remain rooted in our local community and we are informed and inspired by Gloucester’s rich and diverse past.
At Gloucester History Festival you will….
Explore history in a way that is relevant to you
Enjoy high quality experiences that enable you to understand how events of the past impact your life today
Get better connected with the world as you explore stories that connect Gloucester with the world and the world with Gloucester
Become immersed in digital media as you experience new ways to travel back in time
Hear new stories, see new things, learn new skills – and teach us a thing or two – as we engage in conversations together
Understand the world differently as we try to present stories through everyone’s eyes in partnership with those to whom the tales belong.
Our Board of Trustees
Richard Graham, Chair
Carole Francis McGann
Vernon Harwood
John Lovell
Phil Moss
Andrew Pitt
Gareth Swain
Debra Tullett
Meet our Festival Team
Janina Ramirez, Festival President
Sarah Smyth, Festival Curator
Vicki Hopson, Festvial Coordinator
Paul Drinkwater, volunteer Heritage Open Days coordinator
Blackfriars Talks
Blackfriars Talks take place live with events in April and September at Blackfriars Priory in Gloucester.
Voices Gloucester
The Voices Gloucester programme brings the whole city together through a variety of events.
Heritage Open Days
This programme of talks, walks and events opens up the city’s heritage for everyone to enjoy.
Gloucester Day
This event is designed to promote pride in our historic city, commemorating the Siege of Gloucester.
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