As it enters its fourth decade this year Artweeks is even bigger and busier than ever. With more than 500 exhibitions and 1,000 artists and craftspeople taking part, this is both an event that one could not miss and indeed one should not miss. And it is an event that The Oxford Times is proud to sponsor.

Festival director Esther Browning and administrator Jo Golding have orchestrated the event together. Esther, who has run Artweeks for three years said: “I love being involved because Artweeks is so vibrant, colourful and varied, a celebration of so much artistic talent otherwise hidden in nooks and crannies across the county.”

The great joy of Artweeks is the opportunity to talk to the artists about how they make their work, why and what inspires them. Visitors can also see pieces being created and to explore how works of art create a dialogue with their environment or setting.

The latter is the case at the Bothy Vineyard, in Frilford Heath, where 50 artists have been involved in creating 250 sculptures.

The outdoor sculptures draw visitors though the Bothy’s vines, orchards and wildlife areas, while those indoors mingle with fermentation tanks, barrels and presses. Sian Liwicki who owns the vineyard with husband Richard says the experience is “quite glorious... and a treat”. Illustrated are Marie Ackers’ jockeys capturing the excitement and thunderous motion of horse and rider in fierce competition.

At Dorchester on Thames Adrian Brooks shows a series of 15 “travel theatres”, right. Brooks has worked in the Pitt Rivers Museum drawing inspiration from the momentous journeys made by the ethno-geographers, anthropologists and explorers. Each mini-theatre tells its own story: the outside illustrating Brooks’ own travels and the interior relaying the tales from the people and places of the original voyage, such as that of the first travellers from Europe to reach Australia . Francis Coates opens his Chipping Norton studio and garden with the film and TV creatures he has made over the last 30 years. Many will be instantly recognisable such as: nine R2D2 figures for Star Wars and rubberised portraits of Mick Jagger and Prince Charles. Coates is now working on a head of Tutankhamen for the British Museum.

Pip Shuckburgh, illustrator, commercial artist and painter has worked largely in oils, watercolour and gouache. Her work can be seen at the visitors’ centre at Bicester Village.

And there is a huge range of accomplished work on show in Oxford; in colleges, museums, schools or other formal, public or community settings. Others are in artists’ own homes or studios. Jericho’s Lulu Wong Taylor celebrates vibrant tropical colours rejoicing in nature with glorious plants, exotic birds and voluptuous water and landscapes.

The Oxford Art Society exhibits a wide range of work by members at Oxford Town Hall until June 2, after Artweeks has finished. The Society holds regular meetings and invites artists living within 30 miles of Oxford to submit work for its autumn show at the Woodstock base. There is a body of work on show from community artists and art groups, including mental health charity Restore. At its base, in Cowley Road, Oxford, it shows work by members alongside pieces made by those involved with the Complex Needs Service. And in Banbury at Restore’s Orchard site members are showing and selling work in a wide range of styles including a delightful range of narrow -boats and other crafts created to reflect the town’s canal heritage. At Oxford’s Fair Trade Shop in the basement of St Michael in the Northgate schools and other community groups showcase work alongside beautiful Fair Trade pieces from around the world. This partnership is captured in a picture of pupils from Long Crendon School’s Elms Class with posters linking Artweeks to global, Fair Trade art. Artweeks May 4–12 in Oxford; May 11–19 south of the county and May 11-19 in the north Free brochures in museums, galleries and libraries or write to PO Box 559 Abingdon, OX14 9EF. Visit artweeks.org