Young farmer to turn family farm near Banbury into venue for 18 local artists for Oxfordshire Artweeks

Jazzy Bannister grew up on Warden Hill Farm near Chipping Warden but left to live in London for several years in her early 20s.

Now aged 25, she has returned to the rural Northamptonshire farm that has been in her family for three generations.

She said: “As soon as I was born, I used to sit on the combine harvester with my dad. I have definitely grown up with farming, and as soon as I could, I started helping my dad with the trailers at harvest time.

“It has always been a part of my life and I don’t really know much different.”

Jazzy completed an agricultural degree at Cirencester before moving to London to live with friends for around two years.

She said: “I always knew I wanted to come back to the farm, but I wanted to try something a bit different before I did.”

Since her return, Jazzy has been relearning the ropes at the farm but also initiating some of her own ideas.

One idea was to revive the farm as a venue for Oxfordshire Artweeks, something her mother did annually before the Covid pandemic.

Jazzy said: “My mum, who used to be an artist, converted one of the farm’s buildings into an eco-friendly event venue several years ago.

“She used to run workshops and host Oxfordshire Artweeks there for many years, but then Covid hit and everything came to a stop.

“So when I came back, I thought it would be a great idea to display some of my friends' and local artists' work in the venue for Artweeks.”

Jazzy has recruited 18 artists who will be displaying their work at Warden Hill Farm from Saturday, May 17 until Monday, May 26.

She said: “We will be open every day from 10am until 6pm throughout the entire week for people to come and look at the art on display.

“Alongside the art, we will have a stall selling plants that I have propagated, alongside tea and cakes.”

Warden Hill Farm will also be holding a late evening on Friday May 23, for people who wish to enjoy an alcoholic drink and canapes.

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