About Lichfield Arts
Formed nearly fifty years ago, Lichfield Arts is an independent registered charity (Charity Number 1156217) based in the centre of Lichfield which is mainly run and supported by volunteers. Lichfield Arts runs around 30 concerts each year covering wide genres of music in a variety of venues.
We also organise three major festivals each year, including our flagship Fuse festival in July, which is one of the Midlands biggest and most popular free community festivals. This is preceded in June by the Lichfield Blues & Jazz Festival and in October we hold Lichfield Festival of Folk.
As well as our concerts and festivals we offer innovative outreach projects to educate and encourage participation in the arts as well as developmental opportunities for our team of volunteers.
Lichfield Arts has half a century of experience to call upon with a rich, diverse history to be proud of. However we are a creative, sustainable organisation, always looking forward to a vibrant future of bringing the local community together in a shared passion for the arts.
Lichfield Arts is an exciting place to make new friends, discover new music and participate in engaging and rewarding activities, either as a volunteer or as a visitor to our events in an inclusive, friendly atmosphere. We offer opportunities for members of our community to make new discoveries, as well as creating long lasting memories of our unique events that celebrates and promotes the arts in such a vibrant and exciting way.
The secret of our success is our cohesiondiversityteamtenacitycommunityexperienceintegritypassioneventsvalues
We have a reputation for delivering well respected events with authentic, professional artists as well as providing a platform for up and coming performers with the best sound and lighting possible. We have events all year round that entertain and encourage, with workshops for everyone and friendly, helpful volunteers and staff. Our events support the local economy by encouraging tourism, bringing large numbers of people to the city of Lichfield, many of which are making their first visit to the city specifically to enjoy our events.
The annual Fuse festival for example regularly attracts 18,000 visitors over the three day event, many of which will use local amenities, visit other local arts and heritage sites, contribute strongly to Lichfield based businesses and enjoy the wider offerings of our great city.
Lichfield Arts is about more than live music, much more! We are very proud of our success with our community outreach projects which supports, nurtures and provides opportunities for local young people, as well as disadvantaged and under represented members of society.
Our outreach projects have been created in partnership with local education providers to encourage young adults and children to benefit from engagement in the arts. As well educational, these sessions are also vibrant and exciting and we work with communities from Burntwood, Cannock, Rugeley, Lichfield and Tamworth.
We care about our events and feel passionately that everyone who participates in our offerings, whether as a performer, a team member, visitor or indeed a sponsor or funding partner, should benefit from our expertise and leave with a feeling that our events are worth while, promote our amazing city and its community while offering great value.
Our amazing team
Lichfield Arts has two paid members of staff and around 175 registered volunteers. Without the fantastic support of our diverse and enthusiastic volunteer team, Lichfield Arts would not be able to run the important community events that means so much to our visitors and supporters.
The overall running of Lichfield Arts is the responsibility of the team of trustees, themselves volunteers, who ensure the organisation and its events are run in an innovative, interesting and community focused way, which is also safe, lawful, ethical and fair.
Our paid staff support the trustees and volunteers while having specialist roles to perform within Lichfield Arts.
At the heart of what we do collectively is a desire for cohesion, teamwork, respect, diversity, honesty and fairness. Many of our volunteers and trustees have been involved in Lichfield Arts for many years, some since the earliest days of the organisation.
Being involved with Lichfield Arts as a volunteer, trustee or staff member is hugely rewarding and we welcome enthusiastic people from across the social spectrum to join us in our exciting journey into an even more successful future.
Lichfield Arts is active throughout the year either running, planning or evaluating our festivals, or creating exciting and dynamic concerts and outreach projects.
Lichfield Arts extends its sincere thank to all of our volunteers, trustees and staff for their fantastic work and support.
Our events
Our exciting events are a platform for up and coming artists, particularly younger performers who would otherwise lack the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience and learn to craft their performance skills.
Fuse is our biggest festival and in 2022 drew a collective audience of over 18,000 participants from across the district and wider Staffordshire area, who enjoyed a wide range of artistic and engaging opportunities for participation, education and fun!
Our Blues & Jazz Festival is a multi-venue event having earned an important place on the calendar for fans not only of Blues & Jazz, but high quality, entertaining musicianship.
With fringe events and several days of performance, the Blues & Jazz festival is as popular as ever.
The Lichfield Festival of Folk is a popular, vibrant and entertaining event which offers a mix of ticketed and free activities.
These include the now famous arts and heritage parade involving over thirty dance sides, in magnificent costume, leading a vibrant procession from Lichfield Cathedral to the centre of the city, where dancing entertains the enthusiastic audience.
With a dynamic and varied line up of artists from across the folk spectrum, and opportunities to partake in workshops and outreach projects, The Lichfield Festival of Folk has established itself as an important late season treat for fans of folk and indeed live performance.
Our values
Lichfield Arts is an inclusive and supportive organisation where fairness, respect and integrity are important organisational values.
Lichfield Arts is committed to promoting equality, diversity and celebrating difference in everything we do.
We welcome staff, volunteers and trustees from all backgrounds and are actively seeking ways to encourage even greater diversity to strengthen our team.
We encourage and support our volunteers and staff and believe that teamwork, empowerment and positive feedback is vital to everything we do as an organisation.
Our events feature artists and performers that celebrate diversity and offer opportunities for under represented members of the community, while embracing equality and respect.
As much as is possible we utilize venues with access for disabled customers and each our events is organised with the needs of a richly diverse community in mind.
We believe that promoting community cohesion, working closely with local schools and colleges on outreach projects which are specific to the curriculum and offering opportunities whenever possible, while listening to the needs of our customers and participants is extremely important.
Lichfield Arts is committed to being an equal opportunities employer.
