Sunday Times international best-selling author and Cicestrian Kate Mosse has been announced as the Patron of Chichester Cathedral’s 2024 Festival of Flowers.
The Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and recently launched Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, Kate is an award-winning novelist, playwright, essayist and non-fiction writer. Her latest novelThe Ghost Ship – a pirate novel set on the High Seas between Gran Canaria, La Rochelle and Amsterdam - is the third novel in her No 1 bestselling The Joubert Family Chronicles, though can be read as a stand-alone story. So far The Burning Chambers, The City of Tears and The Ghost Ship have together sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide. The final novel in the series will be published in 2024.
Kate said: “As a Chi girl born and bred, it is a great honour and a pleasure to have been asked to serve as the Patron for the 2024 Festival of Flowers. The Cathedral is not only at the heart of the religious community in Chichester but at the heart of the Arts community too. I took part in Chichester 900 in 1976 (Maypole dancing on the Cathedral Green), I’ve have played in concerts and sung in school choirs, I was one of the first girls to serve in the Cathedral and, in 2022, I was even the ‘Voice of God’ in Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde. I always visit the Festival of Flowers as a punter, and stand in awe of the beauty and imagination of the arrangements, so cannot wait to be more closely involved."
The biennial event sees thousands of visitors explore spectacular floral arrangements within the setting of Chichester’s 948 year-old Cathedral.
Also a major fundraising event organised by the Cathedral Trust, the Festival has raised vital funds towards restoration work including the roof.
Interim Dean of Chichester, The Reverend Canon Simon Holland, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Kate Mosse as our Patron. Kate has long championed creative and cultural activity in our great city, and we look forward to working with her create an immersive story for visitors next year, responding to the vision of our Festival Designer Hannah Howell.”
The 2024 Festival will also see the return of celebrated Sculptor Philip Jackson, who will be presenting an exhibition of sculptures exclusively for ticket holders. Visitors will also be able to browse through an exclusive range of stalls within the on-site Market, nestled in the Cathedral’s 600 year-old Cloisters. We are also delighted to be supported once again by Rathbone Investment Management.
The 2024 Festival will take place from 5th - 8th June 2024. Tickets are now on sale.