Open Minds is a unique garden arts festival in beautiful natural surroundings on the edge of the Chester Meadows in Handbridge this weekend. All proceeds from the festival go to the Chester health charity, Platform for Life, which has been helping young families and individuals in the city for almost 10 years, providing counselling and support to improve mental health and wellbeing.

The festival is a celebration of creativity, with some of the area’s leading artists and poets giving their time to help raise awareness and shine a light on the invaluable work of the charity, which focuses on Blacon, Lache and Kingsway.

The festival will feature a wide range of multidisciplinary artists, installation artists, sculptors, photographers and poets whose work explores what it means to be human in ways that are profound, inspiring and playful. Artists displaying work include Tim Foxon, Lydia O Hara, Debbie Nairn, Luciana Hermida , Profoundly Mundane , Andy Porter and others.

Each day the festival, sponsored by Carra Innovation Limited, will be open from 12pm until 5pm and visitors will have the opportunity to explore the work, talk to the artists and be entertained with art, words and music. This promises to be a wonderful way for visitors of all ages to while away a couple of hours in a warm, inclusive environment enjoying art, learning about art therapy and discovering the innovative work of Platform for Life.

Open Arts Artspace takes place at Bottoms Lane Chester CH4 7AP , 12pm – 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Refreshments will be available

Tickets £5 pp plus a small booking fee available in advance from Open Minds Garden Arts Exhibition Fundraiser

Entrance for children is free.

for more information on the artists check out @openmindsart2026 on Instagram

Further information available from Helen Lydon:

helen.lydon1@gmail.com