Cllr Rita Garner, Worthing’s cabinet member for culture and leisure, was overwhelmed by the support for a second festival following conversations with the town’s businesses and creative community. It’s estimated that the debut festival brought more than 14,000 visitors to the town centre over nine days.

With the support of the town’s artists, performers and businesses, the festival’s organisers have been preparing a bigger and better celebration for the town next year.

The Worthing Festival was inspired through conversations between Worthing Borough Council and the town’s strong arts community, who asked for an event to help promote the wealth of local creative talent. A multi-arts festival was decided upon and brought to life by Time for Worthing, the council’s official tourism arm.

Next year’s celebration will be longer than its predecessor to ensure a greater number of performances, events and workshops can be registered, as well as spread over more days by organisers.

Local venues and creatives that are keen to participate in this year’s festival are being invited to register their events from 15th January 2024 on the Worthing Festival section of the Time for Worthing website.

Bookable support sessions will be held for event organisers in the run up to the festival - the first of these will be on Thursday 18th January as part of Colonnade House’s Professional Development Week.

The official branding for this year’s festival will be revealed in the new year as part of a competition held for the talented students of Northbrook College. Last year, student Jessica Galbraith had her design front and centre of the festival’s marketing.

Cllr Rita Garner said: “It’s hugely exciting to confirm that the Worthing Festival will be returning next summer.

“Following last year’s debut festival it was amazing to hear how many people had a great time in the town enjoying the host of live music, creative workshops, heritage talks and comedy performances on offer.

“By working together with our talented locals, great venues and town’s arts forum, we hope to deliver a bigger and better festival for our residents and visitors to enjoy next year.”

New social media accounts have also been launched on Facebook, Instagram and X to create dedicated pages where people can learn about the festival and its events.