Richmond Arts & Ideas Festival

11/02/2026

A glimpse into Preeya Nair’s film:
‘A Place in the Bend of a River’preeya

These clips comes from a longer verbatim, multimedia promenade performance exploring stories of migration into Ham (of people, plants, and animals).

Created with several local organisations and performed by the students of Grey Court School, directed by Preeya Nair.

Originally made as part of the Richmond Arts & Ideas Festival, this work celebrates community, movement, and belonging.🌿📚

28/06/2025

Our Riverbed is on today and tomorrow! This exhibition by 6 Collective is a study of the interrelationship between people and the riverbed. It explores the wide variety of wildlife and the negative impact of climate change.

🌊Our Riverbed
📍Orleans House Gallery
⏰10am-5pm

27/06/2025

It’s the final weekend and we’re ending the festival with a bang! Come and celebrate with us on Church Street and see it transformed into a giant chalk canvas. Get ready for live music, community workshops, a giant mural and mini masterpieces – let’s cover Church Street in colour.

🫟Chalk on Church Street
A day of colourful creativity!
📆Saturday 28 June, 12-5pm
📍Church Street, Twickenham, TW1 3NR

23/06/2025

What’s on this week!

It’s the last week of Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival and there is still lots to see. We’ve put together a round-up of some of this week’s events but check out or website for the full programme.

🌿Trees – The Lungs of Richmond
📆Tuesday 24 June 13.30 – 15.00
📍Twickenham Library
Join local artist Paloma for this 90-minute workshop to explore trees through artistic and sensory practices inspired by visual parallels between tree branches and our lung structure.

👹Mothers of Monsters
📆Wednesday 25 June, 19.30
📍OSO Arts Centre
A Frankenstein inspired theatre piece by Lottie Walker, Artistic Director of Blue Fire Theatre Company.

🎭Sancho & Me
📆Wednesday 25 June, 19.30
📍The Exchange
An extraordinary story of an unlikely hero, brought to life by actor and author Paterson Joseph.

🍅OSO Dining Room: Grown in SW13
📆Thursday 26 June, 19.00 – 21.00
📍OSO Arts Centre
A menu crafted from produce sourced from local allotments, served with a locally-produced sparkling wine.

😂Exchange Comedy Club: Climate Change is no Joke!
📆Friday 27 June, 20.00
📍The Exchange
An evening of climate-related comedy genius from Dr Matt Winning, Robyn Perkins, Jon Long and all held together by compere Ben van Der Velde.

🌱Exchange with Nature
📆28 – 29 June
Multiple times throughout the day
📍The Exchange
Exchange with Nature is an art installation that uses film and sound to explore our connection to nature. Created by Raw Ground Arts and in collaboration with local landscapes, it emphasises how reconnecting with nature enhances our well-being.

🌳The Music of Trees
📆Saturday 28 June, 15.30 & 19.30
📍OSO Arts Centre
Inspired by the wonder of the natural world, The Music of Trees weaves together storytelling, woodland folklore and mythology.

🦋Nature Walk from Grove Gardens Chapel
📆Sunday 29 June, 14.00 – 16.00
Join this calming, immersive nature walk led by Habitats & Heritage. You’ll listen out for birdsong, spot butterflies and learn about the Richmond Biodiversity Action Plan.

21/06/2025

SILENT GROUND

by Hannah Marshall

The space in-between
Silence and sound
The pulse that’s alive
When above the ground

SILENT GROUND is a walking meditation — a quiet ritual of return to the pulse beneath our feet.

This piece invites you to walk silently to the river, without destination or device. Simply read the poem, then move slowly through the landscape, practising deep listening to the underground networks, the earth’s intelligence, the connection between your heartbeat and the ground’s rhythm.

Text Score
1. Read the poem
2. Walk silently to the river
3. No headphones, no phones
4. Each step, let the water draw you in.

When: Close of day, as the light fades
Where: By the river, on the land


HannahMarshall.com/silent-ground

18/06/2025

Optik Theatre is taking over Whitton Library today and tomorrow!

They are transforming the library into a fantastic fringe theatre space. Some of the brightest new talent in theatre writing, respond to the theme of Cultural Reforesting, ‘The Script Room’ will present a unique programme of unmissable new plays, performed by an outstanding professional cast.

📆18 June, 7.30pm
📆19 June, 3pm and 7.30pm
📍Whitton Library

17/06/2025

Tonight only! Award-winning theatre comes to Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival. This fantastic show explores life’s big questions.

Unable to find food, a group of cavemen must strike the balance between philosophy and survival. However, when one of them invents the wheel, they discover a newfound prosperity that soon becomes a problem of its own.

📍OSO Arts Centre

📆18 – 19 June

⏰19.30

A comedy by Alex AcuffDirected by Laura CliffordLonglisted for Theatre503's International Playwriting award, The Philosophy of Cavemen looks at…

15/06/2025

Today! Join poets, authors and activists to imagine a future where we have renewed our relationship with nature!

Poetry from Apples and Snakes, artists from Brazil and Pakistan, and performances from the remarkable singer Tainara Takua.

All that and a live performance of the Eel Chorus - a choral soundtrack composed by Verity Standen, especially for Anguilla Anguilla, way of the eel, a new film by Eelyn Lee. Verity will be accompanied by singers Clay Slade, Lydia Samuels & Rosalie Warner.

15 June
2-4pm
Orange Tree Theatre

Photograph by Eelyn Lee

12/06/2025

A must-see show!! Dynamic choreography, layered visuals, and a crafted soundscape, this immersive theatre performance will transport you into a world of exciting visuals and beautiful, experimental sound.

Exploring nature and inspired by Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, this new work by local artist and composer Gregory Emfietzis is a must see at Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival.

Make a day of it – there's plenty to see at the OSO Arts Centre, including free live music, an art installation and a jazz performance on Saturday.

OSO Arts Centre
Friday 13 June – 19.30
Saturday 14 June – 19.30
Sunday 15 June – 15.30

DiStorSion is a 90-minute immersive performance that combines dance, live music, and multimedia artistry to explore humanity’s shifting relationship…

02/06/2025

Tune into BBC Radio London at 2.40pm today! We will be live with Shay Kaur Grewal on her afternoon show, discussing Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival, Cultural Reforesting and our Imaging the Forest programme.