Open Forum

3pm – 3.30pm

• Adrian Lochhead, Eden Arts, Are We as Good as We Think We Are? (Or Do We Just Do Mediocre Very Well?), Front of Auditorium
• Daniel Bernstein, Emergency Exit Arts, The Great British Outdoor Arts Archive, Back of Auditorium
• Sally Lampitt, Applause Rural Touring, Rural Touring – creating small scale work for the rural touring sector, Foyer

3.45pm – 4.15pm

• James McPherson, Artizani / Edge Hill University, Using AI to analyse Outdoor Arts Audiences, Front of Auditorium
• Marianne Grove, Circo Rum Ba Ba, Street Theatre and Activism, Back of Auditorium
• Susan Clarke, Stoke Creates, You’re not from round here…, Foyer

Further Information

1.30pm-2pm

• Ajay Chhabra, Nutkhut, Beyond Borders: Expanding Perspectives, Front of Auditorium

Nutkhut has been exploring ways to collaborate internationally and share knowledge across cultures. International exchange opens minds and challenges us to live beyond echo chambers. Travel is vital for creativity, perspective, and connection. Taking Nutkhut’s engagement with Julie’s Bicycle, this session explores how Outdoor Arts responds to political, sustainable and environmental constraints.

• Bev Adams, Bev Adams Arts, Communicating a climate change message through puppetry in the street, Back of Auditorium

A discussion based on research into the communicative efficacies of climate change themed large puppets in the street and experience of working with THE HERDS a UK produced, South African created, outdoor arts puppet project which crossed continents on a 20000km journey from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle in the summer of 2025.

• Tim Hill, The Sound of the Streets, The Sound of the Streets – Music and Sound On Performance, Celebration and Protest, Foyer

A presentation and discussion on the role of music, sound and noise in outdoor arts and celebration, now and in the future. From street bands to celebratory noise. 

2.15pm-2.45pm

• Kieran Spiers, SO Festival (Magna Vitae), Supported and Empowered: How do we shape Artist Development in the Outdoor Sector?, Front of Auditorium

The Outdoor Arts sector has long prided itself on accessibility and innovation – but are our artist development models keeping pace with the energy and urgency of the work itself. This discussion will invite artists, producers and festival programmers to reimagine what meaningful support looks like now. Drawing on our own learning from our Supported Artist Scheme as well as Opportunities across Lincolnshire we will open up questions about co-design, agency, and risk. What happens when artists lead their own development? How can festivals transform from being gatekeepers to collaborators and what might a genuinely dynamic, responsive and supportive ecosystem look like in our world of Outdoor Arts? This is a shared conversation, facilitated by SO Festival, where participants are invited to reflect on what helps and hinders their creative growth. We would like to invite people to contribute towards a sketch of how our sector could lead the way in building support that moves with our uncertain times. 

• Roger Hartley, Bureau of Silly Ideas, A Forum on the Disappearance of Grassroots Creative Infrastructure in the UK, Back of Auditorium

Across the UK — and most acutely in London — the spaces where grassroots artists and makers once built, rehearsed, and experimented are disappearing. The last remaining central London space capable of hosting large-scale outdoor arts creation now stands as a canary in the coal mine for the wider cultural ecosystem. This forum proposes bringing together artists, producers, campaigners, funders, policymakers, and landlords to explore how we can secure, share, and reimagine the future of grassroots-making spaces.

• Avaes Mohammad, British Future, Representation – The art of speaking for more of us, Foyer

How can the ‘majority’ audiences can be engaged with minority-focused work? What are points of consideration for programming and audience engagement choices?

3pm-3.30pm

• Adrian Lochhead, Eden Arts, Are We as Good as We Think We Are? (Or Do We Just Do Mediocre Very Well?), Front of Auditorium

A few years ago, a senior sector leader described a moment of provocation at a meeting of cultural leaders, where the phrase “doing mediocrity very well” was used to challenge complacency. It was a call not simply to raise artistic quality, but to think and act more strategically: to articulate our value more clearly at a time when funding has stalled and when partners beyond the sector do not always understand what culture can deliver. This forum invites you into that strategic conversation. Together, we will explore our usefulness to society, how we better understand the bigger policy and civic picture, and what we collectively need to do to embed culture more deeply into decision-making, delivery and place-changing impact.

• Daniel Bernstein, Independent, The Great British Outdoor Arts Archive, Back of Auditorium

Daniel Bernstein will hold space for new and longstanding outdoor arts colleagues. Together, we will scope out the level of interest for developing a sector wide archive. Come and share stories of who inspired you, when and why? Can we create a timeline of your influences and find a shared narrative for our sector’s history?

• Sally Lampitt, Applause Rural Touring, Rural Touring – creating small scale work for the rural touring sector, Foyer

A discussion around the opportunities for artists/companies interested in creating and touring small scale work for the rural touring sector. Led by NPO Applause Rural Touring and with contributions from artists. Applause have successfully run an Outdoor touring model  for more than 15 years commissioning 6-8 new shows each year to tour to 80+ fetes, festivals and community events across Kent, Sussex, Essex and the wider South East region. This session is for anyone  interested in connecting with communities and creating work to reach new audiences. 

3.45pm-4.15pm

• James McPherson, Artizani / Edge Hill University, Using AI to analyse Outdoor Arts Audiences, Front of Auditorium

Seven years of research, one PhD, 18 festival case studies, and hundreds of hours of video evidence have contributed to the development of this model for analysing and evaluating outdoor arts audiences. I have now created code that automatically analyses video footage using AI and produces data ranging from audience counts to dwell times, directions of focus, and proxemics. This session presents the progress to date and invites interested partners to collaborate on the next steps, including a substantial research programme and the development of a user-friendly version for artists, promoters, and programmers to use in shaping their practice and strategic development. 

• Marianne Grove, Circo Rum Ba Ba, Street Theatre and Activism, Back of Auditorium

We are brave, vigorous creatives who take our performances into spaces where the arts are not always expected to be. We develop skills, personas and methodologies to protect ourselves while remaining open enough to communicate and be sensitive to the diverse needs of our audiences, who may not have planned to encounter us. As outdoor performers, we therefore have the opportunity to reach people who may not often experience the arts. Should we therefore place issue-based themes at the heart of our entertainment? Does our platform require us to be activists? What is our societal responsibility?  

• Susan Clarke, Stoke Creates, You’re not from round here…, Foyer

A provocation that is holding a space for whatever people want to talk about whatever seems relevant to them… it might be navigating getting dropped into somewhere and how to deal with challenging environment …or how you engage with the place you are based in? do you? how does that work? and anything else that comes up.