HASLEMERE Festival and Fringe Festival entertain residents from near and far alternately each year, with action-packed cultural programmes and headline acts.

They are now putting on a permanent show, thanks to four sculptures for 2020 In the Sky.

Festival chairman Hamish Donaldson and Fringe chairman Ken Griffiths laid on a grand opening of their first sculpture Progress?, which commands a central position in the High Street, on January 25.

Special guests were Grayshott Pottery trustee Phil Bates, who advised on the design, and the artist Andrew Brighty, who is based at Dockenfield Forge.

Haslemere mayor John Robini unveiled the artwork with the help of Mr Griffiths’ grandchildren Ettie and Eliza.

Describing the inspiration for his sculpture, Mr Brighty said: “It’s progress with a question mark, celebrating the arts and crafts movement and the peasant arts society in Haslemere in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

“They were a rejection of mass manufacturing and I have hand crafted flowers as a nod to them and to the flowing lines of the weavers.

“The sculpture was hand forged in the traditional way as it would have been back in the day.”

Mr Griffiths said: “This is a magnificent piece of artwork and the first of four sculptures in Haslemere.

“The four planters they are based in were donated to the town by Haslemere Initiative in around 2000. But they have not been looked after.

“Last year Weyhill in Bloom put troughs on the barriers at the Tesco traffic lights and they are now owned by Haslemere Festival and Haslemere Fringe.

“We have now decided to erect four individual works of art. The next one will be the planter at Clements Corner, followed by the one in Wey Hill at the locality office and then Petworth Road.

“Hamish has been mounting the festival since 2000 and it was Brian Howard’s idea originally. The success of the festival and the fringe is all about the volunteers in Haslemere, who give their time.

“The fringe started in 2010 and it rotates with the festival every other year. It’s back this year from July 3 to 5 and we have already sold 600 tickets.

“The headline acts have not been announced yet and tickets are exceptionally cheap if you buy them now before many more will want them.

“What we have with this sculpture is a reminder every day of the year about the arts and what the festival and the fringe deliver for Haslemere.”