JANE'S WALK COLCHESTER
An international weekend of local walks led by local people on local themes, taking place in towns and cities around the world, honouring the legacy of the urbanist, writer and activist, Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), and marking the anniversary of her birth.
Colchester held its first Jane’s Walk festival in 2011, and has done so every year since. We are proud to have hosted the UK’s first Jane’s Walk.
Janes's Walk Colchester 2026
A date for your diary...
2nd-10th May 2026 (inclusive)
The 2026 programme of walks wont be publised until early April 2026, but in the meantime, here are some memories from Jane's Walk 2025 in May this year:
What can you expect on a Jane's Walk?
Jane’s Walks are typically shorter (mostly under 3 miles), most often (but not always) urban or urban fringe, and best thought of as non-expert, community-led ‘walking conversations’ on a wide range of local themes.
Anybody can lead a walk, and they may be on any topic – historical, environmental, political, personal, serious/factual, creative/whimsical. Or they may simply be about engaging a community on immediate local issues.
Some from previous years (e.g. ‘Theatres and lost theatres of Colchester’ and 'The Wrong End of the Stick. A tour of Colchester’s public
conveniences') have entailed extensive research, resulting in previously unwritten histories of the town. Others are creatively driven, focusing on the immediate interaction between walker and environment.
Importantly, worldwide, all walks are freely given.
Walk times are approximate. Some meet locations (prefixed ///) use what3words: https://what3words.com/.
Unless otherwise indicated (*check accessibility info), all city centre walks are step-free. For large text and further info on walk accessibility, see our Facebook walk event pages, or call Rowena Macaulay (07710 474999).
For more information about the festival in Colchester
About Jane Jacobs, the festival namesake
Jane Jacobs, the festival’s namesake, was the original 'place-maker'. She wrote extensively on the design of the city; the complex factors that contribute to making urban spaces work (or not).
She believed local people are experts on the places they live and encouraged them to engage directly with their local built environment, in conversation with others and in particular on foot: if you want to understand a place she said, "you have to get out and walk". Hence, on her death in 2006, the choice of a festival of walking to commemorate her work.
Read more about her here:
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New York Times Obituary - Douglas Martin, April 25th 2006 [NYT Online]
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Guardian Obituary - Veronica Horwell, April 28th 2006 [Guardian Online]
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Vital Little Plans review – why the ideas of Jane Jacobs are still vital. Chris Hall 2017 [The Guardian Online]
"You've got to get out and walk!" Jane Jacobs
About Jane's Walk Colchester
Jane's Walk was established in 2007 in Toronto, Jane Jacobs’s home for her last 40 years. Jacobs was writing and speaking right up until her death aged 89 in 2006, and was a well-known and much-loved public figure. Walking as a vehicle for understanding place, alongside discourse and civic engagement, were dominant lifelong themes in her work. Hence 'Jane’s Walk', the creation of Jacobs's many friends and colleagues: a weekend festival of walking established to commemorate her life.
By the time of Jacobs’s death however, her ideas and influence already extended worldwide, and Jane’s Walk too went rapidly global. In 2016, a decade after its inception in Toronto, over 1,000 Jane's Walks took place in 212 cities, in 36 countries, across 6 continents.
Colchester held its first Jane’s Walk festival in 2011, and is proud to have been the UK’s first Jane’s Walk town. Over the years since, it has reached a further 13 UK towns and cities, including London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry and Belfast.
Images from former Jane's Walk years in Colchester
(click arrows left/right to scroll)
"Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because,
and only when, they are created by everybody" Jane Jacobs
Our Sponsors
Walk Colchester is grateful to the following local organisations for their support of Jane’s Walk Colchester over recent years:
To CCC Cutural and Creative Fund, Colchester Arts Centre
and The Commons Cafe at the Minories.
Similarly to Firstsite Gallery and The Headgate Theatre for their sponsorship and/or support in kind.
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