Forge Festival

With Young People

Forge Festival is The Knotted Project’s most exciting and ambitious project to date. This annual theatre festival, now in it's 4th year, is co-designed with young people empowers creative young people across Cumbria to tell their story and make a statement through original performances that they co-create with professional artists from The Knotted Project.

A Creative Generation, Forge Festival 2025

Forge Festival, A Creative Generation’ is a unique and inspiring programme of creative activity engaging schools, communities, and early career artists in Cumbria. Over 2 years, we aim to nurture a creative generation of young people, ready to have their voices heard and create change through the power of theatre.

What’s to come in 2025?

Now in its fourth year, Forge Festival will return to Windermere Jetty Museum in 2025 and planning is already under way!

In 2025, three new schools and three performance companies will work co-creatively with The Knotted Project to create original work for the festival through a range of art forms, engaging with hundreds of new young creatives from across Cumbria.

We will work with our Youth Advisory Board again to co-produce the festival, whilst also creating another original film centred around the festival theme for this year “Life through a lens- Young people in 2025.”

We will commission three new Early Career Artists to create original solo performances for 2025’s festival and embark on a tour to rural venues across the region with a selection of our ECA’s from all cohorts, developing their work further whilst expanding their reach and networks.

More Forge Festival 2025 updates to come very soon – watch this space!

Forge Festival 2025 will take place on Saturday 26th April at Windermere Jetty Museum and will include performances from young people from across the region.

Forge Festival is supported using public funding by The National Lottery through Arts Council England. It is also supported by exceptional local partners including Lakeland Arts, Brewery Arts, Barrow Full, Rosehill Theatre, North Yorkshire Council, Wave Forward and Centre for Social Futures at Lancaster University.

“I felt ownership over it, I could see that my ideas contributed to it. Our ideas have been heard, taken into the planning process and actually used. This was our festival that we put together!”
Youth Advisory Board Participant

Please take a look at our evaluation film short from our first Forge Festival in 2022.

Film by Nick Farrimond

“I thoroughly enjoyed Forge Festival. The performances were polished, and the pieces had clearly been devised with passion. It was a great way to give young people a voice”
Forge Festival Audience Member

Rebuild the Future was co-created by The Knotted Project and young people taking part in Forge Festival 2024, in collaboration with filmmaker Nick Farrimond.

This is young people’s creative response to the idea that throughout time in the past, present and future, humans’ connection to nature is changing and shifting… where will we end up?

Music by Lee Affen, Film by Nick Farrimond

All Forge Festival Photography by Owen Peters