Urban Wilderness CIC – Annual Seasonal Event
Winter Gathering is Urban Wilderness CIC’s annual seasonal celebration, bringing communities together during the darker months through creativity, warmth and shared ritual.
Taking place in Stoke-on-Trent, the event offers a slower, more reflective counterpart to Pig Walk Parade. Where Pig Walk is expansive and processional, Winter Gathering centres on intimacy, atmosphere and collective presence.
The event invites participants to come together through making, storytelling, light-based artworks and gentle acts of celebration that acknowledge the turning of the year. Community workshops and creative sessions in the lead-up to the event provide accessible opportunities for people of all ages to take part, contributing lanterns, small sculptures, spoken word, music or other creative responses to the season.
Winter Gathering creates space for:
Reflection and renewal
Intergenerational connection
Shared warmth and hospitality
Reimagining winter as a time of creativity rather than retreat
By activating public space during winter, the event encourages continued engagement with the outdoors and strengthens relationships between communities, artists and local partners.
As an evolving annual programme, Winter Gathering deepens Urban Wilderness CIC’s commitment to place-based, participatory practice — demonstrating how seasonal rhythm and collective creativity can foster belonging, resilience and connection.
