F IS FOR FORTY, FESTIVAL, FREE, FUN, AND OF COURSE, FABULOUS!
Save the Date: Saturday 15th August
2026 heralds a landmark anniversary for Jack Drum Arts, and we’d love to celebrate 40 years of brilliant community creativity with you!
40FEST promises to be THE event of the summer in County Durham, and a week of festivities kicks off on Monday 10th August and culminates in a huge family friendly celebration day on Saturday 15th August at our home in Crook.
Think:
- bands and live music,
- games and quizzes for all the family,
- entertainment,
- exhibitions,
- a week of free taster sessions so you can have a go at all of the music, arts and crafts that you’ve always wanted to try.
We’ll round off the week with a brilliant community ceilidh which will be a ticketed event to help us keep the rest of the festival free and accessible to all. There will be something for everyone.
Jack Drum Arts has come a long way since it was founded in 1986. We exist to create positive change in our, often overlooked, communities through engagement in creative activities. We are proud to be rooted in Co Durham and ever since we established ourselves in the Wear Valley in the early 1990s, we have been cultivating relationships with people in our community. Generations are connected and experiences are shared.
Our region is beautiful, full of friendly and passionate people and has a wonderfully rich heritage, but it is our brilliant community of participants, partners and professionals that is truly our biggest source of pride, and as we all enter our exciting next chapter together, we plan to continue and expand upon our work to be an overwhelming force for good.
We’ll be announcing our programme and line-up over the coming weeks, so look our for our posts on Facebook and Instagram to be kept in the loop.
So write the dates in your diary, keep an eye out for updates, and join us for sunshine, smiles and a whole lot of fun.
