New imaginative experiences, art and performances will take centre stage following a funding boost for innovative cultural projects aimed at bringing people together and strengthening the local creative sector.

With funding from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, the borough’s Cultural Compact, a partnership that brings together artists, cultural organisations, businesses and community and education organisations, launched the Creative Incubator Fund in October.

The fund was designed to support new artistic work to be presented in Basingstoke and Deane during 2026, encourage collaboration between local and visiting artists and arts organisations and develop long-term relationships to benefit the borough’s creative community.

Following an application process that saw 24 project proposals submitted, eight projects ranging from immersive theatre and circus performance to music, fashion, and digital learning initiatives have been awarded funding.

The successful projects, which will benefit from a total of £82,000 in funding, are:

• Scratch Built Theatre CIC – a pop-up theatrical production transforming an empty retail unit into an interactive toy hospital. The production will debut during the 2026 Basingstoke Festival. Children will be encouraged to bring their toys along, by booking ‘hospital appointments’ or dropping in for on‑the‑spot care, repair and imaginative storytelling.
• Kingsclere Performing Arts and Youth Centre CIC – a collaboration with new theatre company Arise~Emerge to develop an ambitious new premiere production, attracting highly skilled creative arts graduates back to the community that nurtured them.
• Tit for Tat Circus – a roaming circus theatre show called Disorder of Knights combining live games, visual spectacles and interactive character comedy with fantastical puppetry. Tit for Tat Circus will be working with Scratch Built Productions to celebrate the Basingstoke community as modern-day champions. The show will premiere at Basingstoke Festival before touring nationally.
• Jodie Marsh-Hoffmann (Junk Jodie) – Fashion-IFFICENT, a cross-discipline arts project working with local and national artists to create a walkabout leading to a storytelling performance with a fashion showcase to highlight sustainable clothing practices with a nod to Basingstoke’s fashion history.

• Emma Callow – a community-based digital learning project blending art, science and technology through curiosity and play. The project will conclude with a public exhibition and interactive play space, co-developed with The Safe, where children and families can explore, tinker, make, and play with technology. This space will showcase the artworks and inventions created by participating families, leaving a lasting legacy through the Digital Play Toolkit: a permanent collection of digital tools and resources that allows families to continue experimenting and supports new participants through peer-to-peer learning.

• Jon Wilks – a long-form musical work in collaboration with Richard Lines and inspired by Stanley Spencer’s paintings at National Trust’s Sandham Memorial Chapel, marking the centenary of the chapel’s construction in 2026. The project will be written, developed and recorded within Basingstoke and Deane, culminating in a public performance at the chapel and a tour planned for 2027.
• Peter Mears – a new sculptural installation and process film developed at his Dummer Down Farm studio. Drawing on recent research suggesting the Vyne Chapel windows were once part of a larger cycle commissioned for the Holy Ghost Chapel in Basingstoke, the project explores how artworks move, fragment and accrue new meanings over time. The project will see the creation of a chiming porcelain mobile installation, an accompanying musical composition and a process and final film that can tour locally to schools, libraries and cultural venues.
• Stephen Love – a shadow puppetry research and development project forming the initial stage in developing a theatre adaptation of a children’s novel written by a Hampshire-based author.  The work aims to explore the techniques and tools needed to create a multisensory production through some participatory workshops. The work created during the research and development will be shown at Proteus Creation Space.

Cabinet Member for Sports, Leisure and Culture Cllr Kerry Morrow said: “Our arts community is at the heart of what makes Basingstoke and Deane such a vibrant and welcoming place to live and visit.

“As we develop our bid to become the country’s first Town of Culture, it’s fantastic to see the range of projects being supported to unlock imagination, support local talent at every stage and give our communities new opportunities to experience the power of arts and culture right here in the borough.”

All projects awarded funding will be delivered by December 2026, with many set to premiere during the 2026 Basingstoke Festival which takes place between Friday 19 June and Sunday 5 July.

For more information about the Creative Incubator Fund, visit www.basingstoke.gov.uk/creative-incubator-fund