Since the introduction of social distancing rules and lockdown restrictions on our daily lives, it has become even more apparent just how important culture and the arts are for our mental health and well being. We believe the arts are integral to human happiness and should not be accessible only by a privileged few. In order to improve accessibility for artists and audiences of all backgrounds,  we need to discuss the impact of class, gender and other forms of inequality on people’s ability to access art education, and the space and time to have a creative ‘practice’ at all. This year the festival team hopes to advocate for change using our upcoming blog. We will be asking participating artists and organisations to share their stories and experiences of the pandemic, and encouraging them to help us envision an improved and more inclusive future for the ecology of the ‘art world’.