Cheltenham Festivals is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2025, with a year-round campaign to bring arts, culture and music to more children than ever before in its milestone year.
At the heart of this year's celebrations is its founding event, Cheltenham Music Festival, with the charity paying homage to its legacy as 'an instigator of the post-war arts festival movement'.
For the first time ever in 2025, Cheltenham Music Festival is hosting a relaxed concert for families, to provide an accessible and inclusive environment for children, young people and those with special educational needs to enjoy classical music.
The concert is part of Cheltenham Festivals' pledge to 'gift the joy of arts and culture' to a record 80,000 children throughout its 80th anniversary year, as part of its ongoing learning and participation programme, which aims to spark a lifelong curiosity for literature, music and science in young people.
Extending the anniversary celebrations to Cheltenham Science Festival, its flagship science communication programme, FameLab, is also pushing new boundaries, reaching as far as Antarctica for the first time in 2025 — with its schools' programme FameLab Academy celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025, too.
Co-CEO, Ali Mawle, said: 'Beyond its four beloved festivals across the year, Cheltenham Festivals as a charity works tirelessly year-round to give young people access to arts and culture.
'But the generosity of our funders and partners is vital in enabling us to do so. On the occasion of our 80th birthday, with the support of local businesses, festivalgoers, patrons and corporate partners who are aligned with our charitable mission, we are looking to ensure that we can continue to inspire the next generation and to reach more children than ever before and enrich lives through culture.'
Local businesses interested in becoming a corporate partner to support the charity's work in 2025 can find out more on the Cheltenham Festivals website.
Cheltenham Jazz Festival kicks off the 80th anniversary celebrations from Wednesday 30 April until Monday 5 May, with tickets on sale now, followed by Cheltenham Science Festival from Tuesday 3 to Sunday 8 June; Cheltenham Music Festival from Friday 4 to Saturday 12 July; and Cheltenham Literature Festival from Friday 10 to Sunday 19 October 2025.
