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With a huge offering of nationwide events and community partnerships, 2022 is a year of creativity. Check out this page throughout the year for updates on the latest events taking place.

What are the celebrations?

Following two years of uncertainty and challenge, 2022, a year of creativity, presents a huge offering of nationwide events and community partnerships. From the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and Unboxed, this bumper year of celebrations demonstrates the power of collaboration and creativity to bring joy and excitement to people’s lives – whether in person or online:

Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee & Art Council England’s Let’s Create Jubilee Fund

Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations are a special moment in our collective history; one that gives us a chance to look back at what has been achieved over the last 70 years and also look forward to what is possible in the future.

Through Art Council England's Let's Create Jubilee Fund, we’re investing £5 million into a new programme distributed by UK Community Foundations. The focus of this fund is to empower community organisations to work collaboratively with artists and cultural organisations in a way they might not have before, to produce creative events that are driven by them and highlight their ideas and creativity.

Applications opened on 17 January 2022. Please refer to your local Community Foundation for details of the closing date in your area. Decisions will be announced in April. 

Unboxed: Creativity in the UK

This year has a wave of spectacular creative events coming its way as part of the Government’s UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK – a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of creativity, taking place across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and online from March to October 2022. It features 10 awe-inspiring new ideas, shaped across science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics by brilliant minds working in unexpected collaborations. Unmissable events and unforgettable experiences are hitting the UK; across coastal towns and city centres to breathtaking areas of natural beauty. It will be available to experience in person, on TV, on radio and online, all for free. 

Unboxed is funded and supported by the four governments of the UK, and is co-commissioned with Belfast City Council, EventScotland and Creative Wales.

Coventry 2021 & City of Culture

Coventry 2021 aims to reimagine the place of culture in a diverse, modern Britain with three core programming principles: community-led, accessible and building legacy and capacity. Arts Council England has invested £5million directly into the City of Culture Trust and much more through National Lottery Project Grants. Coventry’s year started in May 2021 following a delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. UK City of Culture is a competition run by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) every four years.

Birmingham 2022 

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games runs from 28 July-8 August 2022 with venues across Birmingham and the West Midlands including Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Warwick, Leamington Spa and Cannock Chase. 

The Birmingham 2022 Festival is a six-month celebration of creativity in the West Midlands inspired by the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. From March through to September the Birmingham 2022 Festival will feature hundreds of creative commissions and events that will entertain, engage and embrace audiences. 

Arts Council England has invested £3 million of National Lottery funding into the festival directly, and so far, another £2.4 million into individual projects that form part of the festival. 

UEFA Women's EURO 2022 & Arts Council England's £800,000 National Lottery Funding

UEFA Women's EURO is coming to England this summer!  From 6 to 31 July, 15 other nations join the England hosts in stadiums spanning 9 host cities: Brighton & Hove, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Rotherham, Sheffield, Southampton, Trafford, Wigan & Leigh. 

Celebrating the rich history of women's football and harnessing culture to encourage more people, particularly women and girls, to be inspired by the tournament, Arts Council has awarded £800,000 to the tournament to run an exciting arts and cultural programme. Made possible through National Lottery Project Grants, the programme will coincide with the tournament and supports the delivery of three vibrant, specially commissioned projects, each led by artist Emma Smith, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Idle Women. Fans will even have the opportunity to create an original anthem to express their football passion through music. 

Click here for the full press release