Festival aims to encourage people back to Winchester’s revamped Kings Walk

A creative arts festival in Winchester full of workshops, music and a variety of food vendors has had its second anniversary.

Winchester’s Kings Walk Festival ran from 10:00AM until 5:00PM on the 28th of September.

“We decided to showcase what local talent there was in Winchester, but also just to get people back into the Kings Walk area,” said festival organizer Harriet Morris.

The launch of the festival last year coincided with a refresh by the council which cost £385,000, where they repainted, added extra benches and shrubbery.

Image: Winchester City Council

One of the businesses involved in the festival was Design Junction, their co-owner Jake Thorns said: “It should be every few months I reckon, if we can bear the cold in the winter then something around Christmas time would be really good.”

Design Junction hosted a number of interactive posts for the public to test their skills during the festival, from pottery clay moulding to rug making, giving creative fun to people of all ages.

Founding organizer Neil Wyatt said: “A lot of people maybe don’t come down to this part of town, it was a little bit unloved for a few years. But if you do come down you’ll realize how much it’s changed.

‘There are some great new businesses here, every year it’s growing, there are more businesses and the businesses are more active, so it’s really buzzy now and it’s definitely the part of town you want to be.”

Kings Walk Festival is looking to become a yearly event.