Welcome to the second Pride of Place Malmesbury, taking place from 24 May to 6 July 2025. We love our hometown and the festival celebrates all that makes Malmesbury and the surrounding area such a special place to live, work in and visit.
As well as a feast of exhibitions and events around the town, we invite you to join in our nature and history walks, painting and sketching opportunities, family-friendly workshops and our Sanctuary Garden. This edition includes some special events for St. Aldhelm’s Fayre, Refugee Week and the Eat:Malmesbury Food and Drink event on 1 June.
Come along and find out everything that ‘the queen of hilltop towns’ has to offer.
A Malmesbury Town Team event, coordinated by Caerbladon.
discovermalmesbury.life
St Aldhelm’s Fayre
24 – 31 May
Enjoy a week of activities celebrating St Aldhelm’s Day and 1350 years since Aldhelm became the first Abbot at Malmesbury Abbey.
Flowers for St Aldhelm
Saturday 24 May 11am - 4pm
St Aldhelm’s Church, Cross Hayes
Tony McAleavy at the Abbey: Aldhelm and his Legacy 675 to 2025.
Saturday 24 May 7:30pm
Malmesbury Abbey
Free event, but booking essential from: tonymcaleavy.eventbrite.co.uk
Holy Communion at the Abbey
Sunday 25 May 11am
Malmesbury Abbey
Guided Walk
Saturday 31 May 2:30pm
In the footsteps of St Aldhelm and Malmesbury’s amazing Anglo-Saxon history. Civic Trust and Sir John Betjeman becoming its first President.
Tickets and more information from the Tourist Information Centre at the Town Hall.
Malmesbury’s Athelstan Trail
Information boards around town and a FREE family activity sheet available at the Town and Tourist Information Centre.
The Riddles of St Aldhelm Activity Book
£3.50, available at the Tourist Information Centre and Caerbladon.
eat:Malmesbury Sunday 1 June
10am – 4pm
Malmesbury Town Centre
eat:Festivals bring the very best West Country food & drink producers and artisans together. At the event you can buy local food & drink direct from the producers in a welcoming environment.
Fresh good food has never been so important for our health and the strength of our communities.
Keep an eye out for the Malmesbury Town Team stall.
Malmesbury Landscape Artist of the Year
Saturday 7 June
10am – 3pm
Abbey House Manor Gardens
Tickets £6 (includes entry to gardens) from Caerbladon or online at caerbladon.co.uk
If you’ve seen the Sky Arts TV show over the last 10 years, you’ll know the format.
Artists are given the same location to work from, and four hours
to create work in any drawing and painting medium.
Will you focus on the imposing Abbey ruin, or the beautiful garden or house?
Caerbladon has teamed up with Malmesbury Abbey House Manor for exclusive use of their upper garden for this special event for Pride of Place Malmesbury.
Open for 12+ years, under 16 accompanied by an adult. Bring lunch or take a break at a local cafe. Toilets available on site.
Some seating is available but consider bringing your own rug, cushion or stool and your board, easel or sketch books and paper.
Limited art materials will be available to purchase on site.
Midsummer Sketch Breakfast
Saturday 21 June
8 – 10am
£7.50 (from Caerbladon online or in person)
Join us early morning for a couple of hours outdoor sketching or painting to celebrate the summer solstice during our Pride of Place month of activities.
Includes tea, coffee, fruit and pastries at the show and tell after our sketching.
No tuition but a supportive community of sketchers to share ideas and advice. Meet at Caerbladon at 7.45am, to head off together. Bring your own materials and stool, cushion or camping chair for outdoor use.
Sanctuary Garden
Open during Big Green Week
7 – 15 June and throughout the festival
Meadow Study: Anna Sellen
For many centuries Malmesbury has been a place of sanctuary, from Celtic pilgrims to the many Ukrainian refugees currently hosted with local families. As well as offering shelter from conflict, Malmesbury offers sanctuary in nature, health and wellbeing: the area’s natural riverside and woodland habitats provide a haven for diverse flora and fauna, and locally there are many spaces and places for peaceful contemplation, promoting health and wellbeing.
Developed by Caerbladon in partnership with MAGIC (Malmesbury Area Green Impact Community) and Fruitful Malmesbury, we have created a temporary ‘sanctuary garden’ in Birdcage Walk as a place of contemplation and project activities such as nature walks and talks.
Featuring the Talking Soil Bench developed by Dr. Dan Evans and Meadow Study exhibition by artist and beekeeper Anna Sellen.
Events Schedule
Big Green Week nature walk
Sunday 8 June 11am – 3pm
Ever wondered what makes Malmesbury green?
Join us on the Big Green Walk and hear from local sustainability groups along the way about how to make a difference. From a clothes swap, edible forests and tool sharing, there is something for everyone to get involved in. Organised by MAGIC Malmesbury.
Creative activities for families
Saturday 21 June 11am – 3pm
Bee Day – everything about pollination, biodiversity and honey-making, creative activities delivered by artist and beekeeper Anna Sellen.
National Meadows Day
Saturday 5 July
Abbey House Manor Garden
Refugee Week
16 – 22 June
Caerbladon welcomes Iranian artist, illustrator and animator Majid Adin to Malmesbury as our special guest artist for Refugee Week. Majid gained international recognition for his animation work, particularly for the music video for Elton John’s “Rocket Man”. His art often explores themes of migration, resilience, and human connection, drawing from his personal experiences as a refugee. Adin’s journey includes fleeing Iran due to political reasons, spending time in the Calais “Jungle,” and
eventually arriving in the UK in 2016. He has collaborated with various organisations, including the BBC, UNHCR, and Good Chance Theatre, and is involved in projects such as his graphic novel “Hamid and Shakespeare”.
During his five-day residency, Majid will be running stop-frame animation and poster design workshops, accompanying his solo exhibition at Caerbladon.
More details at caerbladon.co.uk
Caerbladon
The wind will take us away (Majid Adin, 2019, digital illustration).
Working in Gaza –An Evening with Shane Stevenson
Thursday 19 June
7.30pm
The Three Cups
Tickets £5
Between 2019 to 2023, Shane Stevenson was country director for an international development agency working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In this talk, he shares experiences working in Gaza prior to October 2023 and discusses the impact of the last 18 months of conflict. All proceeds to be donated to AISHA, an independent Palestinian organisation operating women’s support centres in Gaza.
Exhibitions
Abbey Porch by Charles White
The South Porch
Malmesbury Abbey
A Caerbladon In Living Memory exhibition showing how contemporary and modern artists and photographers have represented the iconic South Porch of Malmesbury Abbey, including work by John Piper, Charles White, Barry Güstard and Peter Harris.
Inspired by Turner
19 June – 2 July 4 – 6 July
The Julia & Hans Rausing Building (Former Moravian Church)
Oxford Street
Malmesbury
Artwork by students of Malmesbury School
Sally Stafford
Summer Meadow
Sally Stafford Caerbladon
27 June – 30 August
Sally Stafford is a mixed media painter of semi abstract, highly textured paintings inspired by the natural world. Timed to coincide with National Meadows Day 5 July.
Paul Lewis
A Quality of Light
Paul Lewis
4 June – 6 July
The Three Cups
Malmesbury-based artist Paul Lewis’ new paintings from recent visits to West Cornwall and Wales. Curated by David Drake, Caerbladon.
Ivana Kupala
Friday 27 June
6 – 9pm
Cloister Gardens
Free event
Ivana Kupala is the Ukrainian celebration of midsummer where they worship the summer solstice. The colourful flower crowns that the festival goers wear at the festival hold a special significance in Ukrainian folk culture. The festival is celebrated annually in Cloister Gardens with music, dancing and food.
Organised by Malmesbury Stands
With Ukraine, a local fundraising group set up in in 2022 to generate funds for the relief effort in Ukraine and to provide practical support for Ukraine families arriving in the Malmesbury area and their hosts.
In August 2024, Malmesbury Town Council officially signed a friendship agreement with the Ukrainian city of Cherkasy.
Other Events
The Malmesbury Pub Crawl Part 1
Friday 6 June 7pm
Malmesbury Abbey
(The Rose and Crown to The Whole Hog). Guided history walk. Meet at the Rose and Crown from 6.45pm. Tickets and more information from the Tourist Information Centre at the Town Hall.
Abbey House
Manor Open Day
Abbey House Manor Gardens
Malmesbury Carnival invites you to join them for an open day to see the beautiful gardens and enjoy performances from local musicians. Food and drink from a smokey BBQ and pop-up bar.
Tickets £8 (Under 13 Free) to be purchased at the door on the day.
