About us

Swadfest is an annual festival in Swadlincote, South Derbyshire, which has been running since 2005.

Coal ,Clay and Culture raise funds to run an annual festival SWADFEST for the people of South Derbyshire. This year SWADFEST 09 will have an environmental theme, offering a wide range of arts, crafts and gardening activities in community venues throughout the district.

It will be a 9 day festival run by local people for local people which makes it feel welcoming and open to everyone.The arts activities will range from rag rugging and pole lathing, recycling of textiles to make shopping bags. There will also be an environmentally focused competition run in conjunction with local schools and this is the part of the festival that we are seeking funding from the  community fund for…

People Express supported the cultural forum committee, Coal, Clay and Culture, to set up the first festival. With over 80 artists and volunteers, 49 different perfomances, workshops, activities and 2200 people taking part, it was a huge success.

From this, volunteer members of the cultural forum became the driving force behind the setting up and running of the future festivals. Swadfest has continued to very popular, with craft days, music and comedy evenings, arts exhibitions and food demonstrations for everyone to access and enjoy.