The arts are at the heart of what we do, and some of the best moments at the centre each year come from our creative projects. Whether they’re celebrations or performances on site or special events we’re commissioned to deliver elsewhere, they’re always about bringing people together. We believe the arts are for everyone. Creativity isn’t just about entertainment—it’s a vital part of being human. It helps us solve problems, express ourselves, and look after our wellbeing.
Arts Events
With this in mind, we try to weave arts and creativity into almost everything we do. One of our big goals is to build a full year-round programme of events and activities that naturally feed into our large community celebrations. Right now, our calendar includes two major arts-based community events each year.
Spring Lantern Parade
This annual event celebrates the gifts and talents of the Whitmore Reans community, where our centre is based. We work alongside local partners to shape both the route and the lantern theme, though the heart of the parade is always the same—welcoming spring under our city’s motto: Out of Darkness Cometh Light.
In the run-up to the parade, we host a series of partner-led and community workshops where people can create lanterns or contribute to larger community installations.
The parade always finishes back at Gatis with a celebration that brings everyone together. There’s storytelling around the campfire, interactive light installations, a BBQ with refreshments, and of course, Gatis Got Talent—when our main hall transforms into a theatre space and anyone can take to the stage to share their skills and creativity.
Festive LightWalk
Unlike our Spring Parade, the Festive LightWalk takes place entirely within the grounds of Gatis and runs across at least two nights. The site is transformed with glowing light displays, interactive installations where visitors can play with light and sound, and community-made creations like giant fairy lights and the much-loved Knitivity from our Knit and Natterers.
Every year, displays are repurposed or swapped around, keeping the LightWalk fresh, surprising, and full of festive spirit.
There’s also a Secret Shed disco, a local craft fayre, festive games like “Spot the Grinch,” plus plenty of seasonal treats—BBQ, food and drink, hot chocolate, and marshmallows by the fire. And to top it all off, the Gatis Youth Club performs their panto finale.
Other regular events include
Film & Food
These events are designed for adults and combine great cinema with great food. We usually pick films that carry a message or offer a window into different cultures, and then match the food to the theme or country of the film.
Film & Fun
These family-friendly events bring people together for a relaxed movie experience with a little extra fun on the side. Along with the film, there’s always an activity and a tuck shop for treats. Past favourites have included colouring books themed around the movie, and even a teddy bears’ picnic after a showing of Paddington.
Textile Craft Groups
Our regular groups, like Make it Sew and Knit and Natter, are all about creativity, community, and sustainability. They’re not formal classes—just people with shared interests coming together to swap skills, encourage each other, and problem-solve. You can bring along your own projects, make use of the donated equipment and materials at the centre, or even join in with group projects. Past makes have ranged from knitting for the local premature baby ward to sewing giant pants for decorations that always raise a smile.
This summer we were lucky to receive a donation of specialist textile weaving equipment. After giving it a new lease of life and rehoming some to people who’ll use it in their careers, the rest inspired our groups to dive into wool craft. Together, they’ve learned how to process raw sheep’s wool—from cleaning it to preparing it for spinning or felting. Once we’ve mastered the basics, we love to pass them on through community workshops. And when we make mistakes, we learn (and laugh) together.
Nature Connection & Art Sessions
These sessions run throughout the year and focus on using creativity to connect to nature or using nature as resources for making art. Examples of this include our recent womens circle experiment where we used clay, made natural pigments, experimented making incense as creating vision board for recycled magazines.
Recent Commissions
Over the past 10 years we’ve built trust in the community by experimenting, learning and creating events that people look forward to. These arts projects have become a way of celebrating, connecting and sharing stories together.
In the last year, we’ve been lucky enough to be commissioned for a number of exciting projects, including:
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Roundabout Project (The Asylum Art Gallery): Taking part as a community board member, we ran workshops and created a lantern parade for the final showcase.
- Compton Verney: In partnership with Eternal Taal, we brought together music, light and tradition with a wassail and lantern parade – weaving cultures and stories while scaring away the bad spirits.
- Fringe Arts Wolverhampton: This year, we’re working with The Asylum Art Gallery, the City of Wolverhampton Council and Enjoy Wolverhampton BID to shape and deliver Fringe Arts Wolverhampton. Our role includes running community workshops, working with a local school to celebrate different cultures, designing a festive parade route that highlights the city’s night-time economy, and collaborating with creative partners to light up windows along the way.
