Dorset Town of Culture
Dorset Town of Culture was established by Arts Development Company in 2024, and is an opportunity for a town, village or hamlet in Dorset to work together and deliver a year’s worth of extraordinary cultural activity. This can include new and existing creative events and projects that their community and visitors can enjoy.
The towns receive £30,000 from Dorset Council that will be match funded by the local town councils.
What Town in 2026?
Wimborne
Wimborne has been awarded Town of Culture 2026
Wimborne Town of Culture 2026 is dedicated to uniting community spirit with innovation, celebrating heritage while embracing new technologies. Their vision bridges past and future to foster accessible, vibrant cultural experiences throughout the year.
Find out more here: https://wimborne2026.com/
Where has Dorset Town of Culture been previously?
2024 Bridport
Bridport was the inaugural Dorset Town of Culture (pilot) from July to December 2024 with creative programmes across arts and community events.
Spearheaded by Bridport Town Council and Bridport Arts Centre, it brought together artists, organisations, festivals and communities to co-produce six months of new work. 35 original events took place and 10,000 people engaged with the events.
Bridport 24 provided an opportunity to celebrate what happens in and around the town. Its commissions explored what was collectively understood as ‘culture’. It enabled new collaborations that have enhanced the reputation of Bridport as a creative hub.
2025 Portland & Weymouth
Portland and Weymouth were joint Dorset Towns of Culture 2025, delivering a series of cultural and community events from April to December 2025.
The programme supported a wide range of cultural activity, in total 24 projects and events were funded, including 13 Launchpad projects, 8 Reveal Commissions, and additional community events.
These activities involved 137 artists who were part of ToC-funded projects and events. The programme reached large audiences, with 15,830 people attending ToC-funded events, and 3,086 participants actively taking part in ToC projects and events. Together, these numbers highlight the broad reach and strong community engagement of the Towns of Culture initiative.
Find Out More About Town of Culture
