Hastings To Deliver Its Own Year of Culture in 2028

Arts Hastings CIC and Hastings Borough Council today announced that Hastings will press ahead with a locally-led Hastings Year of Culture 2028 - honouring the community energy generated by its Town of Culture bid and launching a lasting cultural strategy for the town.

Hastings has not been selected to progress in the UK Town of Culture 2028 competition. Rather than allow the momentum of the bid process to dissipate, Arts Hastings CIC and Hastings Borough Council have confirmed that they will move forward together to deliver a community-rooted, locally-led Hastings Year of Culture 2028 - on the town's own terms.

The decision reflects the scale of public engagement generated through the bid: more than 300 survey responses, 250 participants in in-person consultations, and 8,000 public comments gathered through the Plan for Neighbourhoods. That investment of community energy will not go to waste.

The vision, creative themes and partnership network developed for the bid remain fully intact. The three themes that emerged from consultation - Grassroots to Global, Creative Health and Landscape, and Radical Welcome - will shape a full programme of activity running through 2028, culminating in the publication of a ten-year cultural strategy for Hastings.

Adam Daly, Arts Hastings CIC, said, “Hastings does not wait for permission. An unsuccessful bid outcome does not diminish what this town has shown the world about its ambition, creativity and community spirit. We are moving forward - and we are doing this as Hastings, in the way that only Hastings can.”

Why this matters for Hastings

Hastings faces some of the most acute social challenges in the country: ranked in the bottom 10 nationally for social mobility, the highest unemployment rate in East Sussex, and 27.7% of children living in poverty. A sustained, community-rooted cultural programme is not a peripheral concern in this context - it is a deliberate and evidence-based intervention.

Delivering a successful locally-led Year of Culture in 2028 also creates the strongest possible foundation for future national competition bids and demonstrates to Arts Council England, the National Lottery and other funders that Hastings has the infrastructure, community mandate and creative ambition to be taken seriously as a place of culture.

Cllr Julia Hilton, Deputy Leader of Hastings Borough Council and lead councillor for shaping places, regeneration and community wealth building, added, “The council has believed in Hastings' cultural ambition from the start, and that commitment has not changed. Our investment continues. We are proud to stand behind a locally-led Year of Culture, and we will actively work with Arts Hastings and the wider amazing creative community in Hastings to deliver real, lasting benefit to residents - especially those in communities that have waited longest for opportunity.”