Posted on Thursday 13th February 2020
Creativity will be the focus of this year’s Staffordshire Day when it returns for the fifth time on Friday 1st May.
Coordinators Enjoy Staffordshire, in conjunction with Staffordshire County Council and other local authority partners, are encouraging the people of Staffordshire to embrace their creative side and show the world why we love our county.
Enjoy Staffordshire Senior Marketing Officer Andrea Sammons said:
“Staffordshire is well-known for its creativity and innovation, and we want to embrace that this year in the Staffordshire Day celebrations.
“We want you to create something to show your love of Staffordshire. It could be a work of art, an image, a film, a song, a poem, or even a recipe using Staffordshire ingredients.”
Tying in with the theme, the 2020 Staffordshire Day programme was launched at Woodings Yard Studios in Stafford, featuring Staffordshire Poet Laureate Mel Woodend and artists and makers from the creative studios.
The celebrations will begin on Friday 1st May and run to Sunday 10th May. They have been extended to include the bank holiday, which this year has been moved to Friday 8th May, to coincide with the anniversary of VE Day.
The programme will include a host of events and special offers from attractions across the county, with competitions and a number of ways to get involved on social media.
Mark Winnington, Cabinet Member responsible for tourism at Staffordshire County Council and Vice Chair of Destination Staffordshire said:
“We all know what a wonderful county we live in, and Staffordshire Day, our annual celebration gives us the chance to really shout about it.
“This will be our 5th celebration and every year it gets better and better. Since launching back in 2016, thousands of people have taken part in events and activities with hundreds of local businesses getting involved and making available some great offers.
“This year our focus will be on creativity and we’ll be celebrating everything that’s creative about the county from our people to our places. From the times of world-famous potter Josiah Wedgwood to the hundreds of local artists, makers, poets, writers, and film and music artists from across the county.
“Make sure the date is in your diary for the celebrations on Friday 1 May.”
Last year, over 30,000 people attended Staffordshire Day events, and there were more than 5,700 tweets using #StaffordshireDay, with the hashtag trending nationally for the whole day.
The date, decided by a public vote in 2015, is the anniversary of Josiah Wedgwood setting up his world-famous Staffordshire pottery company in 1759.
Details of how to get involved in Staffordshire Day, alongside a full listing of Staffordshire Day events, can be found at www.enjoystaffordshire.com/staffsday
Photo caption:
(From left to right): Richard Swancott (Enjoy Staffordshire), Harriet Ward (Eightforteen), Debbie Todd (ProteanArt), Anna Graham (Guildhall Gallery), Johny Todd (Johny Todd), Mark Winnington (Cabinet Member for Tourism for Staffordshire County Council), Andy Pressdee (Press Creative), Andrea Sammons (Enjoy Staffordshire), Mike Hayes and James Wilkinson (Tentacle Media)