Sonic Arts Week “25
Are you ready to take on Sonic Arts Week 2025? Mark your calendars as SAW returns this June. SAW is your ticket to cranking up the volume from 27 June - 5 July.
It's back for round four, and this time, it's taking over the lively streets and public spaces of Middlesbrough. Let your ears take the lead and dive into the fun with us. #comejointheracket
Let your ears take the lead and dive into the fun with us between 26 June - 5 July #comejointheracket
If you're new to SAW, let's get you caught up. SAW is where sound, art and play get messy with one another! It's not your typical music scene or art exhibit - it's a delightful blend of both, with a generous dose of quirkiness.
Best part? All our events are free, open to everyone, and mostly kid-friendly. It's like tuning into life with your ears wide open. Confused? Don't worry, so are we sometimes! Check out the highlights from 2024 to get a taste of the madness.
Over the years, we’ve cruised down the River Tees with wireless headphones playing music made from the river itself—bridge vibrations in 2019, underwater recordings in 2021. We’ve turned bikes into instruments translating air quality into sound, hosted lunchtime concerts at Centre Square, staged a DnB tin-can dance rave in Captain Cook Square, and wheeled a giant sound horn through town.
Now that you're caught up, let's talk SAW25. This year's festival takes over Middlesbrough with a vibrant, jam-packed week of installation, performances, workshops, street interventions, roaming noise-makers and more. Dive in immersive sound and lights works in unexpected places, from shopping centres to hidden corners of the town.
Keep your ears open for returning sonic encounters, chaotic orchestras, wild inventions and psychedelic pedalboards which light up the streets. Summit for the Bairns returns with playful, futuristic sound workshops for all ages.
Of course, Industrial Coast will be hosting their series of late-nights gigs [not to be missed] and there's even more art and sound popping up around the town. As always, everything is free or affordable, and open to all.
Find this years’s artists here
📢 SONIC ARTS WEEK 2025