‘Fun Palaces’ reveal culturally rich communities fizzing with creativity across the UK

Held in the heart of local neighbourhoods, with some events spreading abroad, the year-round ‘Fun Palaces’ campaign culminated in an annual weekend of free fun. With the aim of encouraging communities to come together and be creative, to try something new and enjoy different cultural activities, around 900,000 people have taken part in more than 2,700 Fun Palaces since 2014, underlining a thirst for creativity in local communities.

Fun Palaces current Director, Amie Taylor, says: “Over the past 10 years Fun Palaces have seen incredible things happen, when local communities have come together time and time again to put on their own free, cultural events for their community, taking over venues including allotments, museums, libraries and community centres, showcasing the extraordinary talents of those already living and working locally. As the new Government points towards the arts being put back on not just the agenda but the curriculum; we also want to see communities continue to lead in terms of culture and creativity; acknowledging that everyone has something to contribute, that culture belongs to us all and commemorating all we have to offer each other now, and for the decades to come.”

Fun Palaces were created in recognition of the influential theatre maker, Joan Littlewood, who, in the 1960s, along with architect Cedric Price, originated the idea of ‘Fun Palaces’ as somewhere open to everyone where people could celebrate the arts and sciences. Established to mark Littlewood’s centenary in 2014, the current iteration of Fun Palaces continues to support the growth of cultural democracy – ensuring that arts and sciences are widely accessible. Founder and original co-director of Fun Palaces Stella Duffy outlined at the start how Palaces should be ‘genuinely led and made by, for and with every community’.

Research shows that arts and culture have long had a fundamental value in enhancing wellbeing, developing life skills and are even credited for bringing investment and life back to local communities. Fun Palaces have made a tangible impact on communities over the last decade. In the last three years 76% of Fun Palaces Makers agreed that their event opened up new partnerships, opportunities and/or resources for their local community while 75% agreed that their Fun Palaces are helping the local area to be a better place to live.

In 2018, Celine Elliot organised Fun Palaces at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro. The museum 'shopfront' was off-putting for visitors so Celine asked a local library group, Material Girls, to 'yarn bomb' the museum entrance with 120 feet of scarf. The event saw people venture into the museum and engage with the building in a way that they hadn’t before. The leftover scarf was donated to St Petrocs, a local charity working with people experiencing homelessness.

Southern Maltings is a community venue leased to charitable company Ware Arts Centre Limited. Since the charity won a 30-year lease in 2016 for the venue, which is the biggest arts centre in East Hertfordshire, they have hosted Fun Palaces every year and they play a key part of the charity’s vision to be a “welcoming, open and fun space for people of all ages and abilities to explore and develop their creativity.”