Decision details

To award a grant of £2,000 to the Holst Victorian Museum to enable the delivery of the Holst 150 community celebrations.

2024 marks the 150th birthday of the town’s famous composer, Gustav Holst. Partners including the Holst Victorian House, Cheltenham Borough Council, Cheltenham Festivals, The Playhouse Theatre, The Everyman Theatre and the University of Gloucestershire have come together, under the banner of Cheltenham Culture Board, to devise a programme of activities to mark the occasion.
Activities will include concerts, plays, dance, exhibitions, and an array of community curated events and projects. The celebrations will culminate in a free community event in Imperial Gardens on Holst’s birthday, Saturday 21 September 2024.
The celebrations have been made possible by funding of £30,000 from the Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants. As part of the bid, a provisional sum of £2,000 was included as matched financial support from the Council.
Cheltenham Borough Council is being asked to award a £2,000 grant to enable the Holst 150 community celebration event to take place. The grant will be offered subject to the council’s standard provisions for community grants and following engagement with the Cabinet Member for Safety and Communities. Further information on community grants can be found on the councils website.
A wide range of performers will be invited to perform their interpretations of Holst’s musical output in a wide range of genres and musical styles - the only condition will be that the performance has to have a link to Holst, whether that's performing one of his compositions or reinterpreting his output in some way.
The funding from Cheltenham Borough Council will be offered to the chosen performers to cover their costs – be that rehearsal time, equipment or instrument hire or travel.
This is in recognition that the nature of the event will require bespoke performances to be prepared and rehearsed which will incur additional costs for the performers.
The financial support will be capped at £200 per performer with the intention that the funding is used to support at least 10 acts.
In this way, the local community will help shape the celebrations of Holst’s birthday.

The council could choose not to make a financial contribution to the celebrations. This may mean that local performers choose not to take part in the event

The Holst 150 celebrations are being led by a wide range of partners including the Holst Victorian House, Cheltenham Borough Council, Cheltenham Festivals, The Playhouse Theatre, The Everyman Theatre and the University of Gloucestershire