Demonstrating the scope and scale
of our disabled-led, community building,
arts practice in Tees Valley through
Our Stomping Grounds Festival events
Festival Director - Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Creative Producer - Ree Kirkbride
supported by our newly established,
18 strong, learning disabled-led festival planning group.
of our disabled-led, community building,
arts practice in Tees Valley through
Our Stomping Grounds Festival events
Festival Director - Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Creative Producer - Ree Kirkbride
supported by our newly established,
18 strong, learning disabled-led festival planning group.
Our Stomping Grounds 2025 Festival Overview
Our Stomping Grounds Festival celebrates learning disability culture in the Tees Valley and is much more than three days in November. It's the forging of community and belonging, the people directly involved in planning and overseeing the festival from the community, the new work co-creations uniting incredible artists with dynamic local communities, the conversations and connections which begin long before the festival and last well beyond it.
We have worked with hundreds of people in Our Stomping Grounds 2025, and introduced the new work commissions which you can see below and also our Take Up Space Conference where all the speakers were learning disabled artists at different stages in their careers, bringing rich innovation and meaningful solutions to involvement in the wider arts world. It's been electric, in no small part due to the ambition and drive of our amazing Festival Pizza and Planning Team - 18 learning disabled and learning disabled neurodivergent people who were the ideas engine that this year's festival delivered on. And many of them got involved in different ways - performing, speaking at the conference, and welcoming audiences to the festival.
We have worked with hundreds of people in Our Stomping Grounds 2025, and introduced the new work commissions which you can see below and also our Take Up Space Conference where all the speakers were learning disabled artists at different stages in their careers, bringing rich innovation and meaningful solutions to involvement in the wider arts world. It's been electric, in no small part due to the ambition and drive of our amazing Festival Pizza and Planning Team - 18 learning disabled and learning disabled neurodivergent people who were the ideas engine that this year's festival delivered on. And many of them got involved in different ways - performing, speaking at the conference, and welcoming audiences to the festival.
Community Engagement Workshops
June-October 2025
Wide ranging workshops which all sold out included Bollywood dancing, a Feeling Magnificent Catwalk, Wig and Moustaches Physical Comedy, Banner making (displayed in ARC for a month), festival flags, creative writing, dynamic dance, DJing with the Krok Krew, singing and drumming.
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Community Co-Creation: Four New Work Commissions
August-November 2025
Opportunities for learning disabled artists to co-create with professional artists in dance, a new film-poem, portrait photography, and writing, recording and performing a new song
Place of Power Exhibition
Fine Art Portrait Photographer : Kev Howard Curator : Jamie Sample
Exploring Learning Disabled Neurodivergent Leadership in the Arts
Fine Art Portrait Photographer : Kev Howard Curator : Jamie Sample
Exploring Learning Disabled Neurodivergent Leadership in the Arts
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360 Degrees - We Are Not Going Anywhere Film-Poem
Poet : Lizzie Lovejoy Filmmaker : John Kirkbride
with Full Circle Theatre Company and guests
Poet : Lizzie Lovejoy Filmmaker : John Kirkbride
with Full Circle Theatre Company and guests
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Powerful Beyond Measure - Dynamic Dance
Dance Artists : Urban Kaos with Clover Group, Steven and Philip
Dance Artists : Urban Kaos with Clover Group, Steven and Philip
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Freedom Train
Co-created song by Beccy Owen with learning disabled neurodivergent wordsmiths and SYSTEMIC Choir
Co-created song by Beccy Owen with learning disabled neurodivergent wordsmiths and SYSTEMIC Choir
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Original learning disabled-led theatre
Storiescapes
Devised by Full Circle Theatre Company
Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Storiescapes
Devised by Full Circle Theatre Company
Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
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Short, Short Film Festival
Aiming to increase the online and digital presence
of learning disabled-led art
Aiming to increase the online and digital presence
of learning disabled-led art
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Take Up Space Conference
A learning disabled artist-led conference
Artists reveal their vast, professional, artistic back catalogues and discuss how the mainstream arts sector can involved learning disabled artists in their work.
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Joyful Noiz
Learning disabled artists and participants coming together to sing for an hour with Systemic Choir and drum for an hour with the Lawnmowers' Beat This
Learning disabled artists and participants coming together to sing for an hour with Systemic Choir and drum for an hour with the Lawnmowers' Beat This
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Original Artworks by Learning Disabled Artists
Stomp Cabaret
Cabaret Culture is important to the development of disability arts communities - we created opportunities for groups and individuals to have supported rehearsals and to perform to our huge audience.
Stomp Cabaret
Cabaret Culture is important to the development of disability arts communities - we created opportunities for groups and individuals to have supported rehearsals and to perform to our huge audience.
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