Plymouth’s Grassroots Biennial 2026

Plymouth: A City of Culture

Returning for the first time as a biennial, Plymouth Art Weekender 2026 promises to be three days of ingenious creativity and artistic exploration as artists from across the city put on events and exhibitions in the most likely and unlikely of spaces. Since 2015, Plymouth Art Weekender (PAW) has been bringing artists and audiences together to celebrate the city’s bustling creative sector through hard times and prosperity, and this year is no different.

After relaunching as a biennial in 2024, local partners The Box Plymouth, Plymouth Culture, and KARST have supported Plymouth Art Weekender’s voluntary board, Visual Arts Plymouth CIC, to build the foundations for 2026. And thanks to the support of Arts Council England, PAW can bring audiences a weekend that celebrates local talent and Plymouth’s cultural organisations.

PAW 2026 (Friday 16 - Sunday 18 October) will see an impressive display of artistic talent from Plymouth and further afield, in established, new, and unexpected venues. Working with partners, Plymouth Culture, the Weekender has been able to support work in response to David Cotterell’s Intertidal, one of the Sea for Yourself major commissions that responds to Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, which will also be on display throughout the festival.

Quote from Plymouth Art Weekender co-director and coordinator, Rhys Morgan:

“Beryl Cook, probably the city’s best-loved artist, would have been 100 this year - and it feels very fitting to be hosting our celebration of Plymouth artists during such a landmark anniversary for an artist who made the city her home and most enduring subject. Indeed, it has been a landmark year all round, and it is exactly the pertinacious cultural endeavor of Plymouth that fosters the perfect conditions for The Box Plymouth’s incredible recognition as Artfund Museum of the Year. Whilst, as ever, it hasn’t been without challenge, delivering PAW in 2026 feels more vital than ever as artists, organisations and institutions face some very real existential challenges. The support from our partners, Plymouth Culture and The Box Plymouth, has been crucial in enabling us to bring as much of the best of PAW to you as we can. We would like to say a huge thank you to them, as well as to all of those who contributed to our crowdfunding campaign, and of course to all of the people who give up hours of their lives to make this festival happen - we do it for you, but we couldn’t do it without you. Here’s to another incredible year in the peninsula’s creative heartland!”

In 2026, PAW is highlighting the creative excellence of the scores of artists living and working in the city and wider UK, offering new ways of looking at the city’s wider cultural programme. Highlights include:

 

You can find more information about the festival and all the events taking place this year on the Plymouth Art Weekender website www.plymouthartweekender.com or on our social channels:

Instagram @plymartwkndr

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PlymouthArtWeekender

 

Victoria Pomery, CEO The Box Plymouth said:

"Plymouth Art Weekender captures what makes this city's creative community so special: its generosity, ambition and willingness to try something new. The Box is proud to support PAW as it returns this October, giving local artists the chance to show their work in surprising places and to new audiences. A strong, connected cultural sector is what helps all of us thrive, and the Weekender is a brilliant celebration of the talent that makes Plymouth such an exciting place to make and experience art."

Laura Hopes, a participating artist and former PAW steering group member, reflected on her experiences with the festival over the past 11 years, “I clearly remember attending events at the very first PAW as a Fine Art student back in 2015 and subsequently attending a wash-up meeting afterwards for people who wanted to be involved in the next one. This led me to join Visual Arts Plymouth and become involved with some of the organisational aspects of planning for and hosting art events in the city. As a KARST studio holder, a lecturer now at Arts University Plymouth and member of the collective Still Moving, the Weekender remains a vibrant and important platform for artists at all stages of their career to test out and share their work with the public. It runs on the enthusiasm and goodwill of artists and organisers and remains a really important date in the artistic calendar of the city; a deadline to work towards, an opportunity to meet people and expand your community.”

Plymouth-based artists LOW PROFILE told us "We've loved taking part in the Plymouth Art Weekender as artists many times over the years - the city's creative community really comes alive, and pulls together to make things happen. It's a great time for artists to try out something new, and invite people to come and see their work, and celebrate all the great home-grown projects going on here."