‘Torchlight’ procession in campaign to save Halifax arts centre
Square Chapel Arts Centre closed its doors to the public in February 2025
Last updated 2nd Feb 2026
Campaigners trying to get a Halifax arts centre re-opened to the public are hosting a lantern procession marking the anniversary of its closure.
Square Chapel Arts Centre closed its doors to the public in February 2025.
The Save Square Chapel Campaign will be holding a lantern procession and rally on Thursday, February 5, 2026, to mark this anniversary.
Campaign supporters will be meeting at 5pm outside the old Wilko building on Southgate, Halifax, and forming a lantern procession down to the open space between Square Chapel and Halifax Central Library, where a short rally will be held.
The campaigners want Square Chapel restored as “a vibrant and inclusive space for diverse culture, arts and socialising, a vital home for local arts organisations and a hub for community outreach and creative jobs,” they say.
The Campaign has been lobbying Arts Council England, Calderdale Council and others “to enable a leadership that puts the community first.”
The group says people can help the campaign by signing up to receive campaign e-mails and updates, by liking and following its Facebook page – https://tinyurl.com/save-square-chapel – and by joining the lantern procession and rally, also by talking to other people about the campaign and encouraging them to sign up.
They are asking people bring their own lanterns, torches, banners and placards.
Campaigners have urged Calderdale Council to use its influence to help get the arts centre back into use for Calderdale residents.
Senior councillors have said the council does not have any direct influence over the owner or operator of Square Chapel or over Arts Council England, which has a charge over the building.
But Leader of the Council, Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) told opposition councillors last autumn that: “We do have the kind of role of ‘soft power’, which is a convening role and a lobbying and pressurising role”.
Almost 2,700 signed a petition organised by the group last year to save the centre as a community asset.
Square Chapel Arts Centre closed suddenly in February 2025 with all scheduled performances cancelled, following which Arts Council England pulled its funding for the theatre.