Discover the talented dancers who have worked on stages across the globe, on films such as Indianna Jones, and with iconic pop stars like Madonna. The history of Black dancers in British ballet is rich and inspiring, but not well known. A project run by Oxygen Arts is seeking to change that, they gave a wonderful talk over our festival but as we couldn’t all attend, we’ve invited them to share their work here. Be inspired by some of their stories and find out more about their important work.

Navigable waterways are an important part of our island story. A dedicated group of volunteers in Nottinghamshire helped bring some of it to life this year with three fabulous, fun events as they participated for the first time. Seeing the festival as an opportunity to promote their work to the wider community, they also found working on it helped them develop new skills, resources and, best of all, brought the team closer together.

This Italianate Palace in the heart of Suffolk, with over 1,800 acres of parkland and gardens, is quite the showstopper of a day out. Over the past few years the team have tried out various audience focused events and often had those visitors asking to be invited back next time something ‘bigger’ was on. So for 2025 they went bigger, MUCH bigger – offering a 10 day extravaganza of activities showcasing ‘behind the scenes’ of the estate.