Hertfordshire Year of Culture 2020 is a year to showcase Hertfordshire as a county of creative and cultural opportunity
In a challenging year for everyone, but in particular the creative sector, HYOC2020 reminded Hertfordshire residents that whilst many things might be cancelled, creativity certainly wasn’t. Local artists and groups found ways to continue to deliver their creative content in socially distant ways to keep their creative community together.
There's still plenty going on locally. Find out more by visiting Creative Hertfordshire's 'What's ON' and ‘What’s ONLINE’ sections.
Hertfordshire Year of Culture 2020 (HYOC2020) was a year to showcase Hertfordshire as a county of creative and cultural opportunity.
HYOC2020 was a partnership driven campaign which aimed to promote new and existing cultural activity across Hertfordshire whilst highlighting the benefits that taking part in a cultural activity can bring, both to the individual and the wider community. Although 2020 didn't go as anyone planned, there was still plenty to celebrate as our creative partners and local community organisations found new ways to deliver services in socially distant ways.
We used 12 monthly themes to help direct activities and produced newsletters to highlight stories of creativity, culture and heritage from across the county. Have a look at the month themes below and click to link through to past editions of our newsletter and see for yourself that whilst many things were cancelled during 2020, creativity certainly wasn't.
- January - Try Something New
- February - Skills Development and Volunteering
- March - Access the Arts
- April - Go Somewhere Local
- May - The Big Outdoors
- June - Big Ideas
- July - Cultural Olympiad
- August - Families and Friends
- September - Heritage and History and Meet the Maker
- October - Be Inspired, Get Back Into
- November - Creative Minds and Creative Industries
- December - Celebrate and Illuminate
To reflect back on 2020 and as the last part of the campaign, we're hosting the HYOC2020 Celebration Event online at 9.30 am on 2 March. The event will give you a chance to hear from us and key partners about the campaign, the outcomes of our Health and Wellbeing Evaluation and plans for the future, as well as giving you as someone involved in creativity in Hertfordshire, the opportunity to share your experiences of 2020 and make new connections. Watch out on our social media @HYOC2020 for more information and how to sign up.
Have a look at the We Are Creative Hertfordshire pages to see how you can stay in touch with the new campaign to share the breadth and depth of culture, creativity and heritage in Hertfordshire.
How Has the Year Gone?
Read the full HYOC2020 Evaluation Report. A summary PowerPoint along with other resources are available on Creative Hertfordshire.
Read the Hertfordshire Public Health Evaluation Report 'Exploring how arts and cultural activities conducted as part of Hertfordshire’s Year of Culture impact on the wellbeing of individuals who are lonely or social isolated' which is also available on the Herts Health Evidence Website
We've produced an infographic to show how things progressed during the year. Have a look at a year's worth of culture in numbers!
For all general enquiries, please contact the team via email at enquiries@visitherts.co.uk