Chichester Cathedral’s presentation of Peter Walker’s Peace Doves has received a Silver Award in the Tourism Event of the Year category of the Tourism South East Beautiful South Tourism Awards 2024.
These awards celebrate excellence within the tourism sector, and this year’s panel of judges faced a challenging task as they reviewed an impressive array of exceptional entries. 75 finalists from the best tourism and hospitality businesses in South East England attended a glittering awards ceremony at the Grand Brighton hosted by radio and tv presenter Toby Anstis.
The Tourism Event/Festival of the Year category recognises providers of truly memorable and immersive events and festivals that are making a contribution to the visitor economy, with a significant proportion of business generated by people visiting from outside the local area.
Presented in Autumn 2023, Peace Doves was an immersive installation made up of 15,000 paper doves, each containing a hand-written message. Over 50,000 people visited the Cathedral to experience the artwork including 100 schools and local community organisations. Over 25,000 candles were also lit during the exhibition period, with Peace Doves being an opportunity for people to pause, reflect and pray.
Rebecca Lewry-Gray, the Cathedral’s Visitor Experience Manager, said: “We are thrilled to have received the Silver Award for Tourism Event of the Year. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the artist, Peter Walker, our incredible team of staff and volunteers, and the thousands of people who trusted us in presenting their messages of peace, love and hope as part of the installation. We hope you will also return to visit the Cathedral next year, as we celebrate our 950th anniversary with an exciting programme of events.”.
Awards Director, Nell Barrington said: “We were absolutely thrilled with the number and quality of entries this year which has made it tougher than ever before for our judges. Thank you to everyone who entered and has supported these awards and congratulations to all the winners.”
Coming up
Next year the Cathedral will be hosting a special programme of events to celebrate 950 years since a decision was made to establish a Cathedral in Chichester. Coming under the banner of Chichester950, the programme will conclude with a sound and light installation in October 2025. Further information about this event will be posted on the Cathedral website in due course.
