A festival once dubbed as a celebration of Brexit is launching this month with a totally new brand that makes no mention of leaving the EU or Britain. Unboxed includes various events taking place in Wales. It was first announced in 2018 by Theresa May as a Festival of Britain following Brexit. She said it would strengthen "our precious union" and showcase what "makes our country great".
Organisers now say the programme has “never been a celebration of Brexit” and instead focuses on creativity and the arts. The festival will be taking place in different locations around the UK from March to October 2022, including in Wales with its projects About Us, Dreamachine, GALWAD, Green Space Dark Skies and StoryTrails. Events will take place in areas such as Caernarfon, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Machynlleth, Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea from March to October, 2022.
The £120m festival has had various names in the press and that have been used by politicians and the media. After Theresa May launched it as a Festival of Great Britain and NI, it became Festival of UK 2022 and was dubbed Festival of Brexit in some parts of the media. It has since been backed by Boris Johnson’s government and the other devolved governments in the UK.
