SITE Festival 2026

Start: Wednesday, June 3, 2026 11:00AM
End: Tuesday, June 30, 2026 5:00PM

This June, 61 artists open their studio doors in 38 locations along 6 routes in the Stroud Valleys over 2 weekends: Saturday 13th - Sunday 14th June 11am - 5pm and Saturday 20th - Sunday 21st June 11am - 5pm. The routes start from right in the centre of Stroud and stretch out right across the district from Painswick to Wotton-under-Edge, from Chavenage to Stonehouse and from Uley to Chalford. Look out for the printed directories and online and plan your visit. This is a perfect chance to discover more about the wonderful community of artists who work here, as well the incredible diversity of places that they work from. Come and explore the hidden creativity veins of these green valleys, feel inspired and also why not invest in some unique original local artworks. Each year the festival programme seeks to challenge boundaries, bring high calibre exhibitions and installations to Stroud, and raise awareness of the incredible diversity in the arts. As well as the Open Studios, SITE brings over 160 artists to exhibit and perform in exhibitions and events between 3rd - 30th June. Site Festival festival highlights include mechanical sculptor Nik Ramage brings Double Take to SVA John St Gallery (13th–21st June) — a show of moving oddities and everyday objects having unexpected encounters, with performative sculpture walks across both Open Studio weekends. Street artist Sickboy will be occupying a vacant George Street premises (11th–21st June) with a site-specific installation exploring impermanence, cycles of use and renewal, centred around his signature symbol, The Temple. Sophie Ferrier and Zerodig Farm invite families and young creatives to explore soil, science and storytelling through participatory art across both Open Studio weekends at Zero Dig, Oakbrook Farm. Composer and percussionist Bex Burch takes up residency at the Brunel Goods Shed (23rd–25th June), culminating in a performance exploring deep listening, rhythm and her signature "messy minimalism." Artist Nick Grellier will be presenting Gravity at Stroud Cemetery's Chapels of Rest (5th–28th June) — drawing, sculpture, textile and film works that blend material playfulness with humour and social inquiry. The wider festival reaches from contemporary galleries to participatory community projects. Site Festival was established in 1997 by Stroud Valleys Artspace (SVA), growing from the Open Studios model the organisation pioneered at John Street Studios. For over 25 years it has connected the artists living and working across the Five Valleys — in spare rooms, sheds and kitchen worktops as much as formal studio spaces — with audiences from across the region and beyond. Ann-Margreth Bohl's Rock Ecologies will be at SVA’s John Street Gallery from 29th May, bringing together photography, performance, 16mm film, embroidery and drawing to imagine rock strata as an active, living materiality. The SITE Exhibition at Lansdown Gallery offers a unique opportunity to preview work from all Open Studios artists across the festival fortnight. Elsewhere, the Stroud collective PaintPrintClay — Maggie Howe, Mandy Scott and Elizabeth Lee — present new paintings, printmaking and ceramics, while Stroud Sensation at Gallery Pangolin brings together twelve Stroud-based sculptors working across mediums from bronze to feathers, including work by Daniel Chadwick, Abigail Fallis, Rachel Howard and Polly Morgan. Photographer and multidisciplinary artist Saskia Hall presents Black Sheep, reflecting on the alienating experience of growing up Black in the Cotswolds, and Angela Findlay's Conversations Across Time traces forgotten lives and chapters in the spaces between what is known. As Bex Burch reflects: "The deepest part of this invitation is the trust and permission to 'not know' and share this creative experience with your open-hearted community in Stroud." Some events are ticketed, but most are free. Look out for printed Site Festival Programmes across the Stroud District or view online here: https://www.sitefestival.org.uk/