Power and Water explored by Flowers and Art at Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral will explore the beauty and power of water through flowers and art in 2025.

This year, Salisbury Cathedral will explore the theme of ‘water’ through a creative programme of events, talks, art and family activities, including The Spirit of Water flower festival and Living Water summer art exhibition.

The Spirit of Water Flower Festival will open in bloom from Tuesday, 13th May, to Saturday, 18th May, exploring the power of water in all its different forms. More than 30,000 flowers will be used in a huge array of arrangements, which will range from ‘a world without water’ to a journey along a ‘river of flowers’ which will also depict the seabed, including hundreds of fish made by local community groups.

The Revd Kenneth Padley, Canon Treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral, said: “Water is a significant image in many religious traditions. For Christians, it is about creation and salvation. We read in the Bible about God’s mastery of chaos, symbolised in the primaeval waters of Genesis and Noah’s flood. In the New Testament, water is a picture of God’s life-giving Holy Spirit, blessing people through baptism (christening) and calling to mind the ever-flowing love of Jesus.”

The companion art exhibition Living Water will premiere on 7th June and flow throughout the summer until 28 September 2025. It will feature a captivating array of artworks both inside and outside the Cathedral and explore the power of water and what it means to different people. From immersive installations to evocative sculptures and thought-provoking paintings, seven contemporary artists will offer their diverse perspectives on water as a source of life, memory, and connection.

Beth Hughes, Visual Arts Curator at Salisbury Cathedral, said:  “Water is powerful; it sustains life, nourishes us and helps us grow, cleanses, soothes and cools us. Bodies of water can hold stories both individual and of a community shaping the identity of a place. The five flowing rivers of Salisbury are a key feature in all our experience of this place, the cathedral itself is built on water which is echoed in the still waters of our contemporary font. Our 2025 exhibition will explore the multifaceted power of water, and it particular its abilities to hold memories, to make places, and our need to live in balance with this life-sustaining force.”

In previous years, Salisbury Cathedral has explored themes such as liberty and climate change.

Tickets for The Spirit of Water Flower Festival are on sale now via the Salisbury Cathedral website: https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/flower-festival/