Welcome to Tweed River Festival!
Join us in Peebles in the Scottish Borders, on and alongside the River Tweed, for three days of river-focused creative activities – from workshops, film screenings, music and performances, to drawing installations, readings, walks, talks, discussions and more.
The festival’s inaugural edition is the culmination of Connecting Threads’ 2025 programming theme, Watery Commons. Across the year, we’ve been charting connections between the local and the global, the bodily and the systemic, the material and the metaphorical – in recognition that there can be no meaningful thinking about rivers or the commons which is not at the same time political.
Tickets and times
The Tweed River Festival programme has been conceived to facilitate ideas, experiences and conversation across the day. Accordingly, each ticket covers your participation for a full day. We encourage visitors to try to attend for the full day they book for, if possible.
Each day’s programme involves simultaneous workshops across several sites. We will send out a form closer to the festival so that visitors who wish to do so can book into specific activities in advance. You can also just book your day ticket and go with the flow on the day.
All tickets for Tweed River Festival are on a pay-what-you-can basis. We believe that everyone should be able to attend our programme. Paying for your ticket(s) will help support our continued activities.
Access
Please see the Connecting Threads website for detailed access info for Peebles Burgh Hall, Peebles Gallery and individual workshops.
DAY 3: DOWNSTREAM (TOGETHER)
Emphasising planetary connections, on day three of Tweed River Festival we hold the understanding that we are all interconnected through watery arteries. We explore issues of climate, pollution, and access to rivers, land, and clean water from across the world and back to the Tweed.
Running concurrently as part of Tweed River Festival is Springboard Local Assembly. Book tickets for Springboard here.
Day 3 programme
10.00am: venue open for refreshments
10.30am: welcome
11.30am – 1pm: morning workshops
Choose from:
- River Song / The Flow: family-friendly song-learning workshop with Katie Forbes and Gaia Guardians.
- Watery Commons publication launch: reading and conversation inspired by our new book – featuring texts by Emma Balkind, Milo Clenshaw, Daisy Hildyard, Justin Hopper, Mai-Anh Vu Peterson, Sarah Shin, Marianna Tsionki and Andrew Wang.
1pm – 2pm: lunch
Connecting Threads are providing lunch. Please let us know any allergies or dietary requirements when you book.
2pm – 3.30pm: afternoon workshops
Choose from:
- Bedtime at the River: family-friendly outdoor craft workshop and soundbath with artist Kate Cohen
- Participatory sound-making workshop: experimental choir with artist and sound researcher Bint Mbareh, whose work focuses on water in Palestine
3.30pm – 4.30pm: closing
The festival concludes with an opportunity for everyone to come together and share stories, learnings and ideas from the day.
