After five years of promoting UK arts and culture, encouraging international cultural export and exchange, and providing an information hub for the entire UK culture sector, the Culture Diary will close on 31 March 2021.

All Government programmes are kept under review. Following a recent evaluation of the Culture Diary, it has been agreed that the website will continue to support the planning and delivery of the Coventry 2021 City of Culture programme until 31 March 2022, but will otherwise cease to be updated after 31 March 2021.

With Valentine's day just gone, we're taking a look at some of the many love stories that feature in our art collections.

Six museums and heritage sites have been selected to work in partnership with artists to commission a new work of art inspired by each venue.

Didcot Railway Centre; the National Paralympic Heritage Centre in Aylesbury; Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology in Reading; Furzey Gardens in the New Forest National Park; and ‘a space’ arts and The Brickworks Museum in Southampton will all take part in the Meeting Point programme.

Lifeline grants from the latest round of the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund will protect a further 162 heritage sites to ensure that jobs and access to arts, culture and heritage in local communities are protected in the months ahead.

Historic sites and leading cultural organisations, including iconic venues like Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and The Lowry in Salford, will receive help to meet ongoing costs and support to restart activity when it is possible to do so safely.

Coventry City of Culture Trust has announced the first events that will form part of the 365-day programme for UK City of Culture 2021, beginning in May 2021. 

Rooted in the rich history of the city and celebrating the stories of the people who have made it their home, the programme also addresses the issues that communities are faced with today while imagining what the future holds.

An additional £151 million has been given to arts and culture organisations across England, adding to the £257 million earlier in October, coming from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund. Read a full list of recipients here.

More than 1,300 arts and cultural organisations will receive a share of £257 million as part of a vital financial boost from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, as announced by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden on 12 October 2020.

Organisations that applied for grants under £1 million in the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund were informed of their awards on 12 October 2020 by Arts Council England which is distributing funding on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

With 65 clocks (and several watches) in its collection, the end of BST is usually a frantic time for Waddesdon, A Rothschild House & Gardens in Buckinghamshire. However this year, as much of the House remains ‘put to bed’, only 9 need to be changed...

Updated 9/12/2020: This story originally announced the reopening of the Royal Court in November with the Living Newspaper. The story has been updated with new information for December 2020.

The Royal Court Theatre is launching a 'Living Newspaper' based on a historical US theatre project, with online streamed variety performances - two in December and four more in the new year. These performances will be led by writers, and working with freelance artists – actors, designers, stage managers, technicians and choreographers.

The UK in JAPAN 2019-20 season, a high-profile and ambitious campaign to further strengthen the bilateral relationship and deepen the partnership between the UK and Japan as forward-looking global leaders, was launched in September 2019 after its official announcement when Prime Minister Abe visited the UK in January 2019.