Chilterns Chairs Festival: celebrate local heritage this July

Date: 06th June 2024

Celebrate the unique heritage of the local area this summer with the Chilterns Chairs Festival.

With a varied programme of events, discover how the chairmaking industry grew from the local landscape into thriving furniture production which proudly continues today. Celebrate the stories, the chairs and the surroundings which make up our Chilterns history.

The festival will run through July 2024, and includes a wide variety of free events held at venues across the Chilterns. From family fun days to factory tours from big names like Ercol and William Hands, there’ll be interpretive dance, woodland workshops, and all manner of things in between.

“We’re thrilled to be putting the spotlight on the fantastic chairmaking heritage of High Wycombe and the Chilterns,” says Museum Director, Roz Currie. “It is wonderful to have so many local organisations involved in this project – it really shows how much the area still feels connected to its chairmaking legacy.”

Running alongside the festival’s event programme is The Art of the Chair, a special exhibition at Wycombe Museum, exploring the art, design and marketing of chairs. From drawings and prints, to chair templates and catalogues – discover the designs that made Wycombe chairs known around the world.

The Chilterns Chairs Festival is being organised by Wycombe Museum, with activities being delivered by 14 partner organisations from around the Chilterns. The festival is part of the Chalk, Cherries & Chairs Landscape Partnership Scheme, which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and is hosted by the Chilterns National Landscape.

Chilterns Chairs Festival programme of events

Chilterns ANOB