Major Expansion of City’s Landmark Festival

Events year-round announced for Gloucester History Festival

The Gloucester History Festival is expanding in 2023 with new events to create a year-round programme of talks and performances. A season of new talks at the King’s School and the introduction of the first live Spring Weekend at Gloucester’s iconic medieval Blackfriars Priory will complement the hugely successful main Festival held annually in the autumn.

The Gloucester History Festival was launched in September 2011 and in the past 12 years it has gained a national reputation for attracting high-profile speakers.

The new Spring Weekend will feature fifteen events from the country’s top historians including Professor Alice Roberts (presenter of BBC Two’s Digging for Britain) Peter Frankopan (author of The Silk Roads), Greg Jenner (host of the hit podcast You’re Dead To Me) and Martin Sixsmith (former BBC Moscow Correspondent). The three-day programme on 21st – 23rd April features intriguing topics ranging from Tutankhamen to 20th century Prime Ministers and from Alfred the Great to Gloucester’s own archaeological gems.

The new look for the Gloucester History Festival includes:
King’s Talks: New regular events throughout the year at the King’s School
Spring Weekend at Blackfriars: 21st - 23rd April 2023
Main History Festival: 2nd - 17th September 2023
Winstone Talk in Cirencester: 21st October 2023

‘The story of Gloucester really is the story of England with the city’s streets echoing to the footsteps of Roman legionaries, Saxon tribes, a warrior queen, medieval traders and Victorian inventors,’ says Festival President Dr Janina Ramirez. The Oxford historian and TV presenter first appeared at the Festival in 2015 and became its President the following year. ‘I’m thrilled about the growth of the Festival and I’m looking forward to meeting hundreds of history-lovers at the first live Spring Weekend as well inviting more top-class historians to share their personal insights and discoveries.’

Tickets for the Spring Weekend went on sale at 9.00am on Saturday 4th March 2023 and are available online from gloucesterhistoryfestival.co.uk, by phone on 01452 396131 and in person from the Festival Box Office at the Museum of Gloucester, Brunswick Road, Gloucester GL1 1HP.