Announcing Our Festival Programme 2025 -
Booking is Open!
Our Stomping Grounds Festival is back for its third year! It's bigger and better than ever….OSG Celebrates Learning Disability Neurodivergent Culture. In the lead up to the Festival we’ve had Community Participation Workshops where there’s been music, dance, singing, drama and lots of other gorgeous creativity. We’ve had New Work Commissions providing opportunities for learning disabled and learning disabled neurodivergent people to work with incredible artists, to develop their own artistic skills, collaborate in creating something new and perform in front of one of our beautiful audiences. And now at ARC, Stockton a full venue takeover on 25-27 November 2025 we have a jam packed Festival Programme and we can't wait to welcome you!
You can get a snapshot of the festival in plain text list format here
Access Information - as you will know accessibility is a very important part of who we are and you can find all information on the button below. The booking page for each event also has access information for the specific event.
Tuesday 25 November
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11.00 am - 12.20 pm Storiescapes and Freedom Train Premiere Main Theatre - booking essential. PWYD. |
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Welcome to Our Stomping Grounds 2025
Storiescapes Theatre Performance - Full Circle’s hugely successful show Storiescapes is an exciting and dramatic piece of visual theatre, the actors are trapped and slowly realise that the Escape Room is full of puzzles and challenges which could provide them with a route of escape. Freedom Train Premiere - This year we created four new work commissions in various artforms. Freedom Train has been co-created by internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Beccy Owen and a group of learning disabled poets and lyricists: Philip Dawes, David Courtney, Adele Hudson, Megan Rees, and Shetha Jaz . Beccy and the group joined forces with the incredible SYSTEMIC Choir to prepare the song for its debut performance at this year's festival to celebrate our wonderfully diverse community and the feeling of belonging. |
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12.20 - 1.20 pm Big Packed Lunch First floor balcony. No ticket required. |
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A big social event - bring your own packed lunches, pop out and get a butty to bring back, or buy your lunch from ARC's Culture Kitchen (payments what you decide)
NB This is a social space but everyone must provide their own lunches. |
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1.30 - 2.30 pm Place of Power Exhibition Celebration Event 2nd Floor Gallery. Booking Essential. |
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A bold and beautiful exhibition of 20 portraits taken by internationally renowned fine art and social documentary photographer Kev Howard, which exemplifies leadership in the learning disabled neurodivergent community in the Tees Valley. The exhibition is full of surprises and outdated perceptions are firmly replaced with images of disabled people exerting agency over their own lives, being part of vibrant communities, and involved in a wide range of activities and employment. We were delighted to welcome Teesside University MA Jamie Sample for his debut exhibition art ARC Stockton.
The exhibition also premieres 20 beautiful hand painted large banners, made in workshops with superb scenic artist Trish Mayes and 20 fantastic learning disabled neurodivergent members of the community. The banners will be on display from Tues25 - Thurs 27 November. |
Wednesday 26 November
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10.45 am - 12.00pm Short, Short Film Festival Cinema. Booking Essential. |
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Our Short, Short Film Festival is proud to present a series of short films from local learning disabled artists and groups. Films include theatre group Jigsaw, film company Shoot Your Mouth Off, Full Circle's Freedom Road, award-winning short film Identity by Andy Winward with Patrick Gill. One of our other new work commissions was for a film-poem. 360 Degrees: We Are Not Going Anywhere is a group poem created with award winning poet Lizzie Lovejoy, with selected extracts filmed with the co-writers by incredible film maker John Kirkbride, who is currently a Film Hub North Generator Director. There are also monologue and comedy shorts.
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12.00 - 1.00 pm Big Packed Lunch First floor balcony. No ticket required |
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A big social event - bring your own packed lunches, pop out and get a butty to bring back, or buy your lunch from ARC's Culture Kitchen (payments what you decide)
NB This is a social space but everyone must provide their own lunches. |
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1.00 - 4.00 pm Our Stomping Grounds Conference: Learning Disabled Artists as Leaders. The Point. Booking Essential. |
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We are delighted to add a conference element to the festival for the first time this year in response to requests from learning disabled artists wanting space to talk and advocate for their work. Hosted by one of England's best known learning disabled theatre producers Paul Wilshaw, key note speeches from learning disabled people working in the arts, spoken word, live music and two exciting panels. The panels consist of learning disabled artists talking about their experience and answering two key conference questions. Everyone attending will have the opportunity to contribute ideas to a plan going forward. Excellent to hear about a range of practices, aspirations, barriers and solutions. How could you be part of it?
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Thursday 27 November
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10.00 am - 12.00 pm Joyful Noiz Main Theatre. Booking Essential |
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Joyful Noiz is a special moment for connection for our disability community. We will raise the roof off ARC with two sessions making up this morning – you can attend one or both with the same ticket.
10am – 11am: An opportunity for inclusive community singing with Systemic Choir and others. 11am – 12pm: A spectacular drumming performance from Beat This from The Lawnmowers Independent Theatre Company. Get ready to feel the beat. Expect booming rhythms, infectious energy, and a full-on celebration of community and creativity. This isn’t just a performance, it’s a street-shaking, heart-thumping experience you won’t forget! There will be percussion instruments for a short participation element. So you can just watch or join in! |
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12.00 - 1.00 pm Big Packed Lunch First floor balcony. No ticket required |
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A big social event - bring your own packed lunches, pop out and get a butty to bring back, or buy your lunch from ARC's Culture Kitchen (payments what you decide)
NB This is a social space but everyone must provide their own lunches. |
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1.00 - 2.00pm Stomp Cabaret Main Theatre. Booking Essential. |
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Celebrating local talent in style, Stomp! is a cabaret packed full of music, dance, poetry, drama and comedy. The cabaret stars are local learning disabled artists and performers. It’s going to be fantastic. Jigsaw, Full Circle, Urban Kaos new work commissions dance piece, singers, comedy and iconic local headliners Brass Eyed Dragons.
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2.00 - 3.00pm ARCtic Piranha's Daytime Rave Main Theatre. Booking Essential. |
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Brass Eyed Dragons will have got you up dancing at the end of the cabaret and this will transitions smoothly into the Daytime Rave. The rave has been supported by the ARCtic Piranha DJ crew and promises to bring a real sense of party and celebration to Our Stomping Grounds Festival 2025. Dancing in the daytime is brilliant! There is a brilliant Festival party as the closing ceremony. Be part of it!
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