Over the last couple of years Wirksworth Festival has clearly established itself as a key event in the East Midlands cultural calendar.

Year on year audiences for the Festival have grown, with nearly 10,000 people taking part  in 2010; at the opening ‘trails’ weekend, at one of the 30 performances, at one of the extensive programme of participatory workshops or at the fantastic Community Celebration finale.

During the famous trails weekend over 100 artists exhibit in every conceivable space in town; houses, historic buildings, churches, shop windows, gardens, pubs and public spaces.

Arts Council funding has enabled the Festival to develop an ambitious, high quality contemporary visual arts programme, that has helped the Festival grow in profile and now attracts applications from all over the world.

Alongside this the Festival’s education and outreach programme has reached further into the local community and invigorated renewed interest from all sections of the community. We’re proud that in 2010 over 60% of local residents actively participated in the Festival.