Threads Festival Returns to Brunel. Swindon town centre visitors are being kept in stitches this July as the popular Threads Textile Festival has taken over a retail unit at The Brunel centre.
Launched on Saturday, July 11 and running until Saturday, July 25, The Brunel Swindon is the venue for the fortnight-long celebration. It aims to bring the local community together through the versatile medium of textile art.
You’ll find this year’s vibrant hub of exhibitions and workshops at 19 Canal Walk (next to McDonald’s).
A spokesperson for The Brunel Swindon said: ‘We’re so delighted to host the Threads Textile Festival this year. And to provide a space where local creativity can flourish. The Brunel sits at the heart of our community. Thus it’s fitting to welcome an event that’s all about weaving people together through art and shared experiences.
Threads Festival Returns to Brunel
A theme of empowerment
‘The ‘Threads of Empowerment’ theme is so powerful. And we can’t wait to see our unit in Canal Walk transformed into a vibrant hub of inspiration, workshops and incredible local talent.’
The creative charity Artsite, are the organisers of the festival, alongside Swindon Stitch Social and the Big Knit. Its purpose being to showcase the very best of regional textile talent.
Visitors can look forward to a diverse programme crafted to inspire throughout the two-week event.
Festival highlight
A major highlight on display for the duration of the festival is the ‘I Am Woman’ Project. That comprises a 2D life-sized patchwork woman created by textile artist Holly Searle, also known as The Subversive Stitcher.
The festival schedule also features an empowerment-themed patchwork talk and hands-on workshop, exploring this popular craft and its connection to personal storytelling.
The fortnight then culminates in a market on Saturday, 25 July. It’ll be showcasing the work of local textile groups and independent artists, with stalls selling everything from hand-spun yarns to unique, handcrafted items. The Brunel will also be hosting its Monthly Makers Market inside the Shopping Centre. That’s on the ground floor near Boots on the same day. If you’re interested in joining the Makers Market, contact the Brunel team at info@thebrunel.co.uk.
The Threads Textile Festival comes hot on the heels of the Swindon Arts Fringe Festival, also hosted by The Brunel.
This back-to-back summer scheduling cements The Brunel Swindon’s reputation as a champion for the town. And as the place to go for a wide range of both independent stores and national brands, and many eateries.
SALOS Dons Kinky Boots. With great delight, SALOS announce that rehearsals are underway for their next production. They’re bringing the uplifting, feel-good musical Kinky Boots to the Wyvern stage this autumn.
This award-winning Broadway and West End sensation will make its long-awaited Swindon debut at the Wyvern Theatre. It promises to lift your spirits to new high-heeled heights!
When Charlie Price inherits his family’s failing shoe factory, saving both the company and his love life feels like too tall an order. Until, that is, he meets Lola, the sparkling drag queen with the unlikeliest of answers. Can they work together to reboot the business and save the day? It could be they simply need to help each other and everyone around them to stand a little taller. aAnd discover that, when you change your mind about someone, you can change the world.
SALOS dons kinky boots – poster for show
A true story
Based on an uplifting true story and much-loved film, Kinky Boots features Grammy and Tony Award-winning music and lyrics by pop icon Cyndi Lauper and a hilarious book by Harvey Fierstein. Featuring hit numbers such as Raise You Up, Land of Lola and Not My Father’s Son.
‘We’re super excited to bring Kinky Boots to our audiences as our next production,’ said Russell Langdown, director. ‘It’s a musical full of energy, humour, and heart. And it has a powerful message about acceptance and celebrating individuality. The incredible music, spectacular choreography, and vibrant characters make it an exciting challenge for our company. And one that we’re delighted to embrace. It’s exactly the kind of production that allows SALOS to continue pushing itself. All while delivering an unforgettable theatrical experience.’
SALOS Dons Kinky Boots – SALOS in rehearsal
About SALOS
SALOS: Musical Theatre Company, has, for decades, brought high-quality musical theatre to Swindon audiences since its 1951 formation.
Known for their energy, talent, and creativity, SALOS has wowed local theatre fans with past productions. They include: Evita,Shrek The Musical, The Sound Of Music, Oklahoma!. With a blend of classic favourites and modern hits, SALOS continues to showcase the very best of theatre and local talent in Swindon.
Fresh from its acclaimed West End revival, Kinky Boots is proving why it’s still one of the most uplifting musicals around. If the buzz has you wishing you’d seen it in London, now’s your chance. You can experience the magic much closer to home as SALOS bring this award-winning hit to the stage.
Kinky Boots is at the Wyvern Theatre from Wednesday 21 – Sunday 25 October 2026, with tickets available now!
New tickets are now on sale for guided tours at the Science and Innovation Park in Wroughton. The site is home to 80% of the Science Museum Group Collection.
One of the top things to do in Wiltshire, tour dates are available seven days a week through to December 2026. Plus, extra weekend tours added following strong demand.
Visitors can enjoy a unique day out this summer and go behind the scenes of one of the UK’s largest museum collections. There’s access to some of the 300,000 objects cared for at the site.
Thousands of people explored the Science and Innovation Park in Wiltshire through guided tours in the last year. And now even more visitors can experience the collection as new dates are now on sale through to December 2026.
The expert-led, 90-minute behind-the-scenes tours take visitors inside the Hawking Building. This state-of-the art storage facility is home to a vast collection of more than 300,000 scientific, technological and medical objects from the national collection. Visitors can discover how museum specialists care for and conserve these historic objects. All while enjoying stunning views of the purpose-built collections centre.
The Hawking Building
At almost 300 metres long and 90 metres wide, the Hawking Building is comparable in size to 600 double-decker buses. The purpose-built facility enables the Science Museum Group to:
store
conserve
research and …
… digitise its unique collection.
Within the 27,000m2 building are 30,000 metres of shelving. All providing a home for the tiniest and most delicate objects. All along with a further 5,500m2 of pallet racking and 3,500m2 of freestanding space, that holds some of the larger objects in the collection.
The building also houses conservation laboratories, photography studios, and specialist research spaces.
The Science and Innovation Park is also a major research resource. Researchers can apply to access objects from the collection – either in person or remotely – free of charge. They can also explore the Science Museum’s Library and Archive collection of over half a million items.
You can find more than half a million historic objects on the Science Museum Group’s online collection. It’s one of the world’s most extensive digital science collections in the world. Website visitors can discover these incredible objects and the stories behind them through:
Fleming Way Swindon Centre 1962-1965 – from barges to buses.
Running through the centre of Swindon, Fleming Way takes its name from one of Swindon’s greatest footballers: Harold John Fleming (1887-1955). This road starts at the junction with Milford Street and then runs along to the Magic Roundabout and County Road. That marvellous, Magimix of a traffic system sits in front of the County Ground football stadium. There, of course, Harold’s feet performed footballing feats.
The very name Canal Walk is a stonking big clue to the history lying, literally, beneath it. Yet there’s no sense now, murals and markers in the paving aside (see below), that Fleming Way too sits atop an old canal route. But walk from the Debenhams building on the Parade and proceed in the direction of the Zurich building and then along to County Road and the Magic Roundabout and you trace the route of the Wilts and Berks canal.
Note though that the Debenhams building marks the point where the W&B met the North Wilts canal. See Canal Walk for more on that.
In Swindon Decoded, John Chandler writes that the construction of Fleming Way along the line of the lost canal comprised an attempt to keep cars and shoppers apart. An idea much favoured by 1960s town planners it seems.
So Swindon’s shopping streets became pedestrianised and cars found themselves diverted along this new, elevated roadway into multi-storey car parks. But it’s now all change. Fleming Way, or the £33 million bus boulevard if we’re going to get pretentious about it, has undergone remodelling into a vehicle for pedestrians, cyclists and buses. But no cars. It’s been controversial to say the least – but I like it. I was sceptical at first, I won’t lie but I’m now a convert. It’s attractive and it does enhance the pedestrian flow into The Parade, the entry point to the town centre from the bus interchange.
Overhead shot of Fleming Way, Swindon courtesy of Jason Spickett featuring the Zurich building, Unity Place.Bus boulevard aka Fleming Way Swindon
In the before times
The wonderful Local Studies department of the central library has in its repository a series of Garrard journals.
Volume 3, December 1957 – June 1961 has much to say about the building of Fleming Way. It states how, during the years of the 1914-1918 war, this comprised a stretch of the once important canal. It goes on to explain how, for many years after, it remained a stagnant, weed and debris filled pool. One that barred access to the Garrard factory beyond a circuitous route over either the York Road or Whale Bridges.
It seems that, over the years, enough stone and rubble got dumped to make a rough, temporary surface.
With authorisation from the Ministry of Transport, December 1958 though saw a start made on implementing a long-standing need. At the time of writing of this journal construction was almost complete on one section of Fleming Way adjacent to the Garrard factory. But of course, there was much more to be done.
This image from a 1969-1970 edition of the Civic News shows a before and after of the York Road bridge. See the entry for Canal Walk for how it looks today.
Things to look out for
Standing on the right-hand side of the road, as if you’re walking down towards the entry into the town centre, across the road is the Leonardo Hotel. Opposite that is the famous Golden Lion Bridge mural painted by Ken White in 1976 and refreshed by Tim Carroll in 2025.
The Golden Lion Bridge Mural Swindon. First painted by Ken White in 1976
Stroll down the road and look out for markers in the paving denoting where the Queenstown and Whale bridges once stood.
Whalebridge pavement marker on Fleming Way, SwindonQueenstown bridge pavement marker on Fleming Way, Swindon
Lower down, before the left turn into The Parade, you pass the erstwhile Debenhams building – Bon Marche in the first instance. The legend Bon Marche remains but I note that someone has removed the brass that the letters were made from. Curious …
Ghostly Bon Marche letters with the brass removed on the side of the old Debenhams building
Returning to the Leonardo end of Fleming Way, proceed towards County Road and the Magic Roundabout and you’ll come across numerous murals – all outputs from Swindon Paintfest.
York Road Bridge mural – Dayna Baxter and the late Paul Exton.View of Fleming Way courtesy of Swindon Borough Council
After their successful relaunch in early 2026, The Care Show (Swindon) returns this autumn for its second event of 2026.
The Care Show Swindon is an expo that highlights providers of care and wellbeing services in Swindon, Wiltshire and the South West. It introduces the public to care services, as well as general health and wellbeing providers.
SWITCH is a collaborative environment. It’s one where health, social care and technology come together to improve outcomes for individuals and communities. By bringing The Care Show into their space at New College, the event will also offer an immersive experience. Thus allowing professionals and visitors to see, test, and understand cutting-edge technology in care.
‘We’re thrilled to be working even more closely with the SWITCH team,’ said Hannah. ‘It allows us to have more stands showcasing the different businesses that can support people with their care needs. Our change of venue is on a bus route so those who can’t or don’t drive can get to us. And, also for that reason, the show will take place on a Saturday. The college has an interactive room where people can take part in different types of games. And our keynote speakers will focus on different aspects of care.’
David Panes is a lecturer in health and care at New College. He said: “This partnership highlights the importance of embedding innovation directly within care settings. Attendees benefit from meaningful engagement with new technologies. Meanwhile providers gain valuable insight into practical implementation, integration, and impact.
‘Hosting the event with us also strengthens regional collaboration across Swindon and Wiltshire. It showcases the area as a leader in forward-thinking care and digital transformation. It supports knowledge sharing, inspires new partnerships, and accelerates the adoption of solutions that can enhance patient care, improve efficiency, and support the workforce.’
Ownership of the Care Show
Hannah and Kevin, who live in Swindon and North Wiltshire, took ownership of The Care Show Swindon last year. It came after having personal experiences of how complex the sector is to navigate for everyday people.
Care Show Gets New Venue – Hannah Edwards and Kevin Fisher, organisers of the care show
‘Before I ran my own administration and social media company, I worked as a carer for several years,’ said Hannah, who lives in Gorse Hill. ‘I loved my job. But I saw it all: the good, the bad and the ugly. Care is important for us all and yet it’s rarely joined up. It’s difficult to know what you are – or aren’t entitled to. And it’s hard to find out what services are available. We all need care at some point in our lives even if it’s us taking care of our mental health or our wellbeing.’
They want to change how people view accessing care services and highlight the important role they hold within the community.
Kevin, who lives in Malmesbury, said: ‘For too long, social care and wellbeing have been seen as second-class services. When in fact they’re so important for us all. Hosting an event like this is about making a difference to people’s lives. It will highlight the amazing care and wellbeing services that we have in the community and beyond.’
They have set out to make October’s event more accessible than ever and the show will mix the old and the new.
‘We have returning care companies, will writers and financial planners and Vino the therapy horse is returning,’ said Kevin.
‘The industry is huge. So it’s important people know their options and know what small businesses exist in the area that can provide professional support around any care situation that they come across.’
When and where
The Care Show (Swindon) takes place on Saturday October 10 at New College Swindon, Queens Drive from 10am to 2pm. Anyone can attend regardless of whether they work in the care or wellbeing sectors or just want to learn more.
Entry is free and people must register prior to their arrival. For more information visit: https://thecareshow.co.uk/
