2026 is a BIG year for Belper and the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. It is the 250th anniversary of the first cotton mill opening in Belper. It will be 300 years since the birth of Jedidiah Strutt, the man who transformed Belper into the world’s first cotton mill town. It is also 25 years since the Derwent Valley Mills were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list!

We’ll be updating this page as plans develop so please keep visiting!

We’d like everyone to get involved to help us create, celebrate,  reflect and learn in and around Belper and the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site throughout the year. So far we’ve held public meetings to share ideas around the Strutt’s and their legacy with everything from re-establishing Belper traditions like the donkey parades, horticultural shows or bicycle parades to celebrating Belper through food, music, dance and song. We want to link to the things important to the town, its story and its place in the World Heritage Site from water-power and sustainability, to its landscape, mills, architecture and global links, including to enslaved plantation workers providing the cotton.

There is a Belper 250 Management Committee with representatives from across our community. There are opportunities to sponsor events and workshops and a website to host all the information is under construction and we’ll share that as soon as possible. We have a Heritage, Events and Education working group to oversee the heritage specific activities. There’s people from organisations across the community helping to shape and deliver the activities and promotions.

Follow or get in touch on Facebook/Meta at Belper 250  or  on Instagram @Belper250

Events will take place throughout 2026 and we can’t wait to share the programme so far with you. Keep checking here and we’ll share it very soon!

There’s still chance to add an event if your group or organisation would like to. You might have an event already happening where you could take a theme and link to it, or think of a way where different organisations can work with schools and communities.

Bicycle fancy dress parade

By working together we think we can make Belper 250 in 2026 a fantastic year. All are welcome and we want there to be lots of offer for everyone.

Chrysanthemum Show November 1964