Getting creative with activities in Hatfield

The artworks were produced by pupils from Southfields Primary School and H’arts In Mind artists. Commissioned by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, the works have really added an injection of colour to the town centre.

And it’s great timing as the first week of July is “Create Week!”

This is an initiative which looks to highlight the fact that us humans are born with a need to be creative and that being creative and having access to creative arts can have huge benefits on everyone’s wellbeing — more information can be found at https://createarts.org.uk/createweek/.

Mandala art - Salisbury Square (Image: Hatfield Town Council) There are lots of ways to get creative in Hatfield. The Town Council run a story writing competition for primary school pupils every year in celebration of St George’s Day (which also happens to be Shakespeare’s birthday). 

Music lessons are available at the Mid Herts Centre for Music and Arts, located in Birchwood, and The Craft Room, based at Breaks Manor, offers young people free school holiday activities with arts and crafts workshops.

But what about the grown-ups? Don’t worry, there are opportunities for adults to express their creative sides as well.

Hatfield House hosts a four-day ‘Living Crafts’ festival in May; H’arts in Mind offer low cost art sessions for all as well as a space to view incredible art at their base in the Galleria; and if singing is your thing then why not get to know St Etheldreda’s adult choir or Hatfield Welwyn Community Choir.

Hatfield Library also has a Creator Space which locals can use to learn and improve new skills like computer coding and sewing. Why not join in the Knit and Natter club or the Lego Club?

The creative arts can also be a fulfilling career. The Department for Culture Media and Sports have estimated that the creative industries contributed £124bn in gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy in 2023.

And Invest Hertfordshire argues that Hertfordshire is at the epicentre of national film and TV production, with just over half of the new studio space being planned and delivered around London and the south-east coming to Hertfordshire (with Hatfield providing the backdrop to a host of Hollywood blockbusters and TV dramas).

Meanwhile, the University of Hertfordshire’s Schools of Creative Arts, based in Hatfield, has been ranked 1st in the UK and 16th worldwide by ‘The Rookies’, an organisation set up to support the next generation of digital artists.

Explore Hatfield

With Salisbury Square in Old Hatfield currently undergoing a transformation, you would have forgiven to think that locals would have been faced with months and months of drab hoardings to look at.

However, thanks to an initiative involving local business and residents, the hoardings have become a canvas for colourful mandalas.

Well worth checking out while you have a sneak peek on how the development is getting on.