Artwave Festival 2026

About

This autumn Artwave will showcase some of the very best creative talent from across the Lewes District, with more than 170 venues involved with free-to-visit exhibitions in private homes, studios, potteries, windmills, railway stations, farms and churches, many of them opening their venues for the first time.

This is one of the largest visual arts festivals in the South East and this year it is setting sail for French shores, showcasing a brand new travelling exhibition on the waves.

Artwave 2026 will include its first ever sea-going exhibition, aboard the Newhaven to Dieppe cross-Channel ferry.

The only cross-Channel passenger route in Sussex will be exhibiting a selection of artwork across all of its DFDS ferry crossings throughout the festival, which returns from 5 – 20 September.

Connecting hundreds of artists and makers with more than 60,000 visitors each year, the festival features a multitude of free-to-visit exhibitions across the Lewes district, with venues ranging from artist studios, potteries and private homes, to farms, churches and even disused windmills.

Download the Artwave Guide below or pick up a free copy from Gorringe's, Lewes, Seaford & Newhaven Tourist Information Centres or from Charleston Lewes.
https://www.artwavefestival.org/view-2026-guide

The festival will give art lovers the chance to discover new artists, meet the makers, and buy direct from them. The diverse range of work on show includes jewellery, painting, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, ceramics, metalwork, photography and performance art.

Follow the trails around Lewes, Newhaven, Seaford and surrounding villages to visit artists and makers in their studios, homes, galleries and workshops.