THE launch of the UK’s longest-running outdoor arts festival took place in Hampshire.

Hat Fair in Winchester transforms the city each summer, with more than 60,000 visitors filling the streets to enjoy three days of free outdoor arts events.

The event, sponsored by The Brooks Shopping Centre, will take place from June 30 to July 2.

Its new director Andrew Loretto took the chance to defend the arts. “We are in the middle of a general election campaign and I want politicians to hear this message. Art and culture is not a luxury. It is a necessity of society.”

There will also be a fringe event alongside the main festival at the shopping centre run by Winchester University students, showcasing young talent.

Mr Loretto said this year’s event would have an international mix.

“I am looking forward to to seeing how audiences interact with shows and spaces in the city. I think for me the Hat Fair is like the cheeky cousin of the city. There will be a mix of work from the big epic to the small and playful.

“Of course we want to entertain and it’s a family event but the equally exciting thing about outdoor theatre is that it crosses borders, telling stories about interesting people - one of our main shows is by a Polish theatre company about the refugee and asylum seeker experience at the back of Winchester Bus Station.

“The work we do on the streets and in our venues is a sum of who we are.”