A new community exhibition celebrating 25 years of Carnival in Gloucestershire has launched across Gloucester, Stonehouse, Stroud and Cam & Dursley stations, inviting residents and visitors to travel by train and discover station galleries as part of the everyday journey.
Photo credit Cyril Laffort
Created by Stroud Valleys Artspace (SVA) and delivered in partnership with Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership (GCRP), Celebrating 25 years of CARNIVAL: Bringing The Street Alive is a print exhibition of poster boards installed across the four stations. The exhibition is being shown in GCRP’s community station galleries as part of its work to strengthen communities’ relationship with rail travel and public transport across Gloucestershire.
GCRP works to connect people and places through the railway and supports the development of community exhibitions by local people at stations across the county. This partnership with SVA brings Carnival into the heart of the rail network, using station spaces as accessible galleries that reflect local creativity and identity.
The exhibition brings together a vivid mix of images from Carnival projects in Stroud and Gloucester, showcasing communities, artists and participants who have helped bring Carnival to the streets over the past 25 years. It includes photographs from community projects in Gloucester over the years, alongside Stroud Carnival moments and more recent work, reflecting the breadth of cultural influences that have shaped Carnival locally.
Photo credit Neil Walker (and Octopus above)
The idea is simple: help create shared community spaces within stations and showcase the accessibility of leisure travel by train. The exhibition encourages people to hop off at a different stop, spend time in the station galleries, discover local areas and strengthen the connection between rail travel and local identity.
Hannah McDonnell, Executive Director of Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership, said: “Carnival is one of Gloucestershire’s great community stories and we’re proud to help bring it into station galleries across the county. When stations feel like shared community spaces, travelling by rail feels more connected, more welcoming, and part of everyday life. We’re grateful to Great Western Railway for funding work that links local culture and creativity with sustainable transport.”
This year’s Carnival programme of workshops, carnival procession and celebratory event was a major feature of the Jazz Stroud Festival in May 2025 which marked the 200th anniversary of the modern railway and SVA’s purchase of the Brunel Goods Shed in Stroud.
The project has been made possible thanks to funding from Great Western Railway (GWR) through its Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF), supporting GCRP and SVA to collaborate and bring this work into the heart of the rail network.
Photo credit Simon Pizzey
Emma Morris, Senior Community Impact Manager for Great Western Railway, said: “We’re pleased to support this exhibition through our Customer and Communities Improvement Fund, which is a superb programme that allows us to invest locally in projects that have a positive and meaningful impact for our customers and our communities.
“The exhibition is a great example of how that funding can be put to use to create a warm welcome to customers and visitors at our stations, celebrate local culture, and encourage people to explore Gloucestershire by train.”
Jo Leahy, Director, Stroud Valleys Artspace (SVA), said: “Carnival has helped communities across Gloucestershire tell their stories for 25 years in colour, movement, music and costume. Working with GCRP means we can share that story right in the heart of the rail network, where people already are, every day. Visit a station gallery, and if it sparks your curiosity, come along to Carnival and be part of it.”
The exhibition is free to view in the station galleries at Gloucester, Stonehouse, Stroud and Cam & Dursley.
The exhibition can also be seen online here: www.sva.org.uk/celebrating-25-years-of-carnival
Want to know more?
To find out more about the project, contact Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership at info@gcrp.org.uk or Stroud Valleys Artspace at office@sva.org.uk.
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