The festival makes use of the surrounding landscape, hosting events in settings including the ancient circles of Stonehenge, Old Wardour Castle, the Wiltshire chalk downs, and Salisbury Cathedral.
[1] This year there was a focus on Aotearoa New Zealand described as 'a distant land defined by Māori culture and its fusion with European and contemporary Pacific island traditions'.
[2] Featured artists included Trygve Wakenshaw, Corey Baker Dance, writers Witi Ihimaera and Fiona Farrell, theatre performances of Beards!
The 2014 Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival marked the start of a four-year journey that will go on to track the passage of the Sun across night and day, from an eastern sunrise to a western sunset.
Salisbury International Arts Festival staged the Fire Garden at Stonehenge in July 2012 as part of the Cultural Olympiad, attracting 10,000 visitors.
2009 also saw an expanded programme of outdoor events with activities scattered throughout the city, enabling audiences to stumble upon the festival in unexpected and unanticipated ways.
There was a strong artistic emphasis on storytelling, recurring motifs relating to the environment and atmosphere, and images of wings, clouds, birds, fairytales, myths, and dreams.