New festival near Peebles to celebrate the River Tweed
The inaugural Tweed River Festival, organised by Connecting Threads, will take place from October 31 to November 2 near Peebles.
The event will feature artistic activities that explore the 97-mile water ’s influence on life, landscape, and imagination.
Tiki Muir, river culture curator, said: “Tweed River Festival is the highlight of our 2025 programme.
“Amid a growing consciousness of the importance of rivers, Connecting Threads aims to encourage people to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with the River Tweed, its surrounding habitats and ecologies.
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“Tweed River Festival feels like a vital opportunity to grow these relationships together.
“The festival is about being equal and active participants: it is an opportunity to gather, to centre the river, to share knowledge and stories and to help sustain caring, resilient and river-loving communities.”
The festival includes workshops, storytelling, music, and poetry and will span both indoor and outdoor locations.
Tweed River Festival is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
The event marks the culmination of Connecting Threads’ 2025 programme Watery Commons.
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Artists in residence for 2025 include Anna Chapman Parker, Emily Cropton, Georgie Fay, Sam Gillespie, Jessie Growden, and Miwa Nagato-Apthorp.
Other contributing artists include Craig Aitchison, Lucy Baxandall, Rosemary Everett, Kat Gollock, Zoe Hamill, Kirsty Law, Bint Mbareh, and Anne Waggot Knott.
The festival’s location will shift in future years, with plans to move downstream in 2026 and 2027, eventually reaching Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Ms Muir said: “While we look ahead to the creation of the River Tweed Trail, Destination Tweed’s 113-mile walking and cycling route, scheduled to open in 2028, this is also a moment to pause and really celebrate the Tweed and the wealth of creative practitioners who live and work in the catchment area.
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“We’re especially excited to share works in progress by our incredible 2025 cohort of artists in residence.
“This is a rare opportunity to share in new art projects as they develop, and to gain fresh perspectives and emotional connections – not only with rivers but also with each other.”
A special publication exploring the Watery Commons theme will be available to festival attendees.
Friday’s programme, titled Where We Begin, includes a printmaking workshop with Georgie Fay and writer Mai-Anh Vu Peterson, a riverside walk with artist Kat Gollock, and a group song-learning session led by Miwa Nagato-Apthorp.
There will also be a poetry and printmaking workshop.
A sound installation and listening walk will be led by Sam Gillespie.
The evening includes music and storytelling from Kirsty Law, Sam Gillespie, and Miwa Nagato-Apthorp.
Saturday’s theme, Carrying Crossing Commoning, includes a short film and presentation by Emily Cropton.
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A drawing workshop will be led by Anna Chapman Parker.
Visitors can also learn to make paper from Himalayan Balsam in a session led by Lucy Baxandall.
Sunday’s programme includes a participatory sound-making workshop with Bint Mbareh and the launch of the Watery Commons publication.
A group reading and discussion will follow, with editor Tom Jeffreys.
