Chester Photo Festival

Chester Photo Festival returns for its second edition from Friday 16 October to Thursday 29 October, with the main hub at Senate House, the University of Chester's Exton Park Campus (CH1 4BJ). It's a twelve-day run, and if you want a first look, there's an opening preview on Friday 16 October from 2 to 4 pm.

Senate House is the centre of it, but the festival doesn't stop there. Further exhibitions are spread across the city at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester Picturehouse, St John's Church and St Werburgh's Church, so you'll be wandering through a few different spots to see the full thing. Entry is free.

The festival was founded and curated by Dr Alexandru Modoi, who set it up in September 2023. It opened to the public on 1 May 2024, and what sets it apart from other photography festivals is how wide it throws its open call. It's open to an eclectic range of applicants, drawing both amateur and professional photographers from around the world rather than sticking to one particular circle. That first edition brought together more than 200 works by 114 artists and attracted around 15,000 visitors across six city-centre venues.

It was followed by a two-day symposium in April, where the world-renowned artist and writer Professor Victor Burgin gave a keynote lecture. A lavishly illustrated hardback book, designed by committee member Ian Clegg, documents that symposium and the work of the participants. The festival is rooted in photography's power to explore memory, identity and personal experience, and it encourages non-standard entries like installations, videos, projections and artist books alongside traditional prints. So, it's not just frames on a wall — you'll find things that move, things you walk through, and books you flip through. Senate House is the main point, with the other exhibitions scattered around the city; entry is free.