Winchester Green Fair is at The Arc on Saturday 19 September, 11am to 4pm, free. Fourteen free workshops are bookable now, from bike mechanics to heat pumps.

Winchester Green Fair returns to The Arc on Saturday 19 September 2026, 11am to 4pm. Entry is free and there is no need to book to come in. What is new this year is a programme of free workshops, and those do have to be booked in advance (Winchester City Council).

Fourteen workshop sessions are listed on the council’s booking page as things stand, and the council says more will be added. Places are free but limited to whatever each session holds, so the practical advice is to book the ones you want rather than turn up hoping.

The workshop timetable

These are the sessions currently open for booking, all on Saturday 19 September, taken from the council’s own Eventbrite collection. End times are not published.

Time Workshop
10.30am Darning Workshop with Revive Revolve
11am Home Energy Advice Session
11.45am Indoor Shore Discovery Workshop
11.45am Vegetarian Cooking Demonstration
11.45am Saving energy at home: all about solar panels
11.45am Tree Identification Walk
12.15pm Home Energy Advice Session
1.30pm Saving energy at home: all about heat pumps
1.30pm Basic Bike Mechanics Workshop
2pm Saving energy at home: all about insulation
2.45pm Visible Mending with Revive Revolve
2.45pm Home Energy Advice Session
2.45pm How to create natural dyes
2.45pm Basic Bike Mechanics Workshop

Two things worth noticing in that list. The first session, the darning workshop, starts at 10.30am, half an hour before the fair itself opens. And four sessions run at once at 2.45pm, so if you want more than one of those you will have to choose.

Timetable of the fourteen free workshops at Winchester Green Fair on Saturday 19 September 2026, from a darning workshop at 10.30am to four concurrent sessions at 2.45pm
The Green Fair workshop timetable as published on 21 August 2026. Source: Winchester City Council's Eventbrite collection. More sessions may be added.

Who is exhibiting

The council has published the full stallholder list. Alongside the workshops you can expect stands from:

  • Bird Aware Solent
  • CPRE Hampshire
  • Cycle Winchester, Exo Hub and Recycle Bike Hub
  • Energise South Downs
  • Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, both the Solent Seascape Project and Team Wilder
  • Hampshire Bat Group
  • Hampshire Swifts
  • My Home Made Better
  • Parents for Future Hampshire
  • Party Kit Network
  • WinACC
  • Winchester Food Partnership
  • Winchester Repair CafĂ©
  • Wonderseekers

The council frames the day around four subjects: supporting nature and wildlife, reducing energy use at home, recycling better, and travelling more sustainably (Winchester City Council).

Councillor Kelsie Learney, Cabinet Member for the Climate and Nature Emergency, said: “Following the success of last year’s Winchester Green Fair, we are pleased to provide another great opportunity for residents to learn more about simple changes we can all make to reduce our environmental impact and support nature locally.”

Getting there

The Arc is on Jewry Street, Winchester, SO23 8SB. It is the Grade II listed former corn exchange, next to the Theatre Royal, and it houses Winchester Library. According to The Arc’s own visitor information:

  • It is about a ten-minute walk from Winchester railway station.
  • There is a bus stop, Tb, directly outside the venue.
  • There are two Blue Badge bays in the Jewry Street car park, free to Blue Badge holders.
  • The entrance is accessible, with automatic doors, hearing loops and wheelchairs available.
  • There are bike racks, which is convenient given two of the workshops are about bicycles.

Everyone else will need a city centre car park or the park and ride. Note that the M3 junction 9 works are running through the autumn, so check our roadworks and travel page before you drive in.

What it means for you

If you have been meaning to get a straight answer on heat pumps, insulation or solar panels without a salesperson in the room, this is the reason to put the day in the diary. There are three “saving energy at home” talks, one each on solar panels, heat pumps and insulation, plus three separate home energy advice slots at 11am, 12.15pm and 2.45pm. Six chances in total, spread across the day, and all free.

If you are coming with children, the Indoor Shore Discovery Workshop and the tree walk are the obvious draws, and Wonderseekers, the charity that created Winchester Science Centre, is exhibiting.

Book workshop places at winchester.gov.uk/green-fair-2026. Everything else is drop-in.

Sources

More to do locally: things to do in Winchester.