THE impressive Wayfarers Contemporary Art Fair takes place inside the beautiful Wayfarers Arcade on Lord Street in Southport town centre this Friday and Saturday (17 and 18 July 2026), with a wide variety of works by over 100 artists on display and for sale and with money from the event raised for Bebe’s Hive. 

This brand new art fair delivers a quality fringe event for Southport’s ‘elegantly eccentric’ year of culture and also coincides with The 154th Open Golf Championship taking place at nearby Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, with 1 of golf’s premier events attracting around 300,000 visitors from around the world this week. 

The Wayfarers Contemporary Art Fair is the brainchild of a professional artist collective based in Southport’s Wayfarers Arcade:- Play On Productions CIC, Gallery More, and Wayfarers Arts. 

It opens up a new North West platform for the UK’s contemporary art market to help strengthen the town’s cultural ecology. 

The Art Fair, which is open 10am-5pm each day, is set beneath the Wayfarers Arcade’s iconic glass dome. Admission is free. 

It is set inside various spaces including the arcade itself; part of the former Beales department store unit; inside the former York Furniture unit (ground floor and 1st floor); and more.

Wayfarers Arcade is also home to some top quality local independent art galleries too including Gallery More, Wayfarers Arts, and Grant Searl & The Northerner, along with some great places to eat, drink and shop.

The Wayfarers Contemporary Art Fair is curated as a Biennale to shine a spotlight on artists at different stages of their career, from internationally renowned to mid and emerging contemporary artists. 

The art itself will tell the story of place, play and folk. Work for sale includes fine art painting, print, sculpture, ceramics, photography and textiles. 

Artists exhibiting include:-

Tony Heaton OBE
Peter Layzell
Geoffrey Robinson
Tina Dempsey
Samantha Messias 
Julian Taylor. 

Plus Southport’s artistic pioneers Brian Lewis, Peter Owen, Grant Searle and Sefton Art prize winners Peter Layzell and Jess Woolston

And local emerging talent such as Zulay Sayalero and Kerry Koyne

Over 100 contemporary artists are taking part. 

The Wayfarers Contemporary Art Fair has teamed up with Bebe’s Hive CIC as their charity partner. It was set up to support grieving children and families through creativity, following the July 2024 tragedy in Southport. They will receive 10% of all art sold.

Wayfarers Contemporary Art Fair curator Dr Alexis K Johnson said:- “Born and bred in Southport, I jokingly called myself an ‘economic migrant’ when I moved to London to work as a professional artist. When I came home I found myself having to travel to continue to work as an artist. The Art Fair looks to address this, by providing a new North West based platform for artists. We put the call out and the response has been overwhelming, with artists from across the North West, the UK and even Europe taking part.”