Estuary Festival

07/07/2026

Estuary Festival are looking for experienced contemporary writers to take part in a unique writers-in-residence programme exploring the biodiversity of our coastal rivers.

We’re commissioning 4 writers to embed in the Arise Advancing Resilience Innovation Riverfly Monitoring Initiative across coastal locations: Minster (Kent), Mayland (Essex), Coldfair Green (Suffolk) and Ingoldisthorpe (Norfolk)

The commissioned writers will follow a year-long citizen science project working alongside local volunteers to observe, reflect, and creatively respond to the changing health of our waterways. Final works will be shared as part of a collective digital publication.

What we are looking for:

• Contemporary writers with a strong track record and experience in creative writing (minimum 5 years of experience)

• Writers who can use their creative practice to respond thoughtfully to environmental and community-based work.

• Writers interested in being embedded within a citizen science project and following its development over a year.

• Writers able to observe, engage with, and interpret biodiversity and environmental data creatively.

• Must be available and able to travel to attend the Riverfly Monitoring Training dates (included in project brief)

Fee: £1,760 per writer (5 days total at £352/day, aligned with Artist Union England rates)

Deadline: 28 July 2026

🔗link in brief to project brief including how to apply.

Image credit: courtesy of The Riverfly Partnership

03/07/2026

👀 Something is taking shape this summer at Hadleigh in Essex 👀

🔥 Dreamspace: Pending Approval: The People’s Kiln at Hadleigh Farm Estate 🔥

This summer we'll be building and firing a community kiln and bricks for a sculptural shelter as part of Dreamspace: Pending Approval with Estuary Festival.

Over five days we’ll gather around wood, clay, fire, music and conversation as bricks made by local residents, alongside artists Emma Edmondson and Shaun C. Badham, are fired for the next phase of this evolving sculptural project. 🧱 🪵 🔥

Join us for campfire talks, karaoke, video screenings, storytelling and more with pals including Lora Ziza Warren Harper Martyn Hudson, Harun Morrison Jes Fernie Fran Edgerley, Mike Darrah, East Anglian Folklore Centre, and Phil Root.

🔥 Hadleigh Farm Estate 🔥
🧱 12–16 August 🪵
📣 Free to attend - link in bio for more info and tickets 📣

Excited to be working with artist and kiln builder Phil Root on this project which is commissioned by Estuary Festival, Hadleigh Farm Estate and this pocket of activity supported by Arts Council England

Design by Lucy Daley comms by Ella Johnston

02/07/2026

Check out this fantastic open call from our friends at Raybel charters

OPEN CALL: CULTURE CARGO 2026

Ahoy creatives!

We're looking for 8 artists, performers, storytellers, writers, musicians, speakers and community voices to join Culture Cargo - a travelling programme of performances, conversations and creative encounters aboard the historic Thames sailing barge Raybel.

During September 2026, we'll journey along the Thames Estuary, stopping at riverside locations between Gravesend and London and bringing people together to explore stories of place, ecology, trade, climate and change. The project will take place between 3rd and 21st September.

We're interested in proposals connected to:

- The Thames and its communities
- Ecology, climate, the rights of nature, and environmental justice
- Trade, transport and movement
- Estuary identity and belonging
- Migration, heritage and regenerative futures

We welcome ideas of all kinds, including:
Music and performance, spoken word and storytelling, talks and presentations, workshops and conversations, sound, visual and multimedia work, community history projects

Selected contributors will receive a £300 fee (inclusive), present their work as part of Culture Cargo and/or Totally Thames Festival 2026, and join a unique programme of creatives, community organisations and environmental thinkers.
Activities can take place on board Raybel and should be between 45-90 minutes.

Application deadline: Midnight, Friday 10 July
Decisions announced: By Monday 20 July 2026
Apply via: https://www.raybelcharters.com/journal
Project enquiry: [email protected]
Supported by Arts Council England.
Image Credit: (Cirenne on Raybel) by Sam Wainwright

Part of Totally Thames festival 2026 https://thamesfestivaltrust.org

Thames Festival Trust

26/06/2026

We're in Chatham today! Come down and enjoy some cool poetry and riverside breeze. 😎

Medway Libraries and Estuary Festival are hosting Southbank Centre 's National Poetry Library as part of 'A Poet in Every Port.'

A Poet in Every Port is a nationwide tour bringing a specially designed mobile library to 11 coastal towns.

📅Friday 26 June
🕒1.30 - 5.30pm
📍Outside Chatham Library with Estuary Festival
No booking required

Join us for an evening celebration of local poetry, alongside A Poet in Every Port’s Ambassador, national treasure, Roger McGough.

📅Friday 26 June
🕒7pm - 8.30pm
📍Chatham Library
Book now - https://tinyurl.com/ft393zvy

10/06/2026

Attention Artists!

Applications have opened for a new creative research and development project in East Tilbury – working with a brief that has been designed collaboratively with local residents.

These projects are always really special, giving life to residents' ideas and allowing the artist to bring their skills, style, insights and approach to the creations!

Artists seeking to apply should visit this link to see all the details: https://www.startthurrock.org/latest/paid-commission-opportunity-creative-research-and-development-in-east-tilbury/

Applications close at 12:00 noon on Mon 15th June, so don't delay - and best of luck!

01/06/2026

One year on from Estuary 2025, we are proud to share our Impact Report, reflecting on the reach, achievements and lasting legacy! Click the link in our bio to read 🔗

✨ 924,000 people.
✨ 9 days of unforgettable experiences.
✨ One powerful, connected cultural region!

From tidal pools to piers and ports, Estuary 2025 brought together artists, audiences and partners to explore the estuarine landscape through a diverse programme of commissions, performances, and events 🌊

An enormous thank you to the artists, the incredible team and amazing partners that brought Estuary 2025 ‘Vessels’ to life! 🎉

And a huge thanks to all of you that joined us for the adventures - we couldn’t have done it without your enthusiasm and support.🙏

We hope you enjoy reminiscing and stay connected to be part of what comes next! 🌊

15/05/2026

We’re delighted to announce the fantastic artists commissioned for the ARISE Engagement programme bringing communities together to explore our relationship with the coast! 🌊

The artists will host creative activities at our upcoming World Café events as well as creating new artworks for each of the four coastal locations. There will be an overarching artwork inspired by all the conversations too.

Come and join our World Café events if you live in:

Heacham (Norfolk) 21 May
Bawdsey (Suffolk) 2 June
St Osyth (Essex) 12 June
Eastchurch (Kent) 30 June

There’ll be opportunities to exchange local knowledge, reflect on coastal futures, as well as connecting with other residents, artists & academics. Free food & refreshments provided!

🔗 Book your place & more info - see link in comments

Meet the artists:

🌿 Jane Scobie explores environment and place through interactive public art and is working in Heacham.

⚙️ Cliff Hammett is an interdisciplinary artist blending ecology, technology & community activism and is working in Bawdsey.

🌱 Mattie O'Callaghan is an ecological designer working with communities toward sustainable futures and is working in St Osyth.

🎮 David Blandy is an artist working across video, games, sound and ephemera to reveal hidden narratives and is working in Eastchurch.

🌐 Kerrie O'Leary is a computational artist transforming environmental data into immersive sculpture and sound. Kerrie will create the overarching artwork connecting all four locations.

🎥 We’re excited to be joined by artist filmmakers documenting the conversations:

Charlotte Ginsborg is a filmmaker blending documentary and performance to reveal people’s relationships with their social and environmental contexts.

Mark Požlep is a visual and performance artist using journey-based practice to explore movement, power and collective human experience.

Helen Burt is a filmmaker and photographer capturing coastal communities with an observational, story-led approach rooted in place and lived experience.

13/04/2026

10/04/2026

09/04/2026

Open call to create on a Thames Sailing Barge

Artist Ben Judd is offering a rare opportunity to create a new artwork, performance, talk or workshop using a camera obscura projection on an historic Thames Sailing Barge in June and July 2026.

Audience members will encounter a projected image of the barge and sea while they are below deck on Thames Sailing Barge Raybel. How will you use the unique combination of the camera obscura and the boat to tell a story, project real-life images, entertain the audience, or reflect on coastal locations in Essex and Kent?

Artist Ben Judd is looking for people in or near these coastal regions to stage a short one-off event (performance, workshop, talk, etc) with a small audience.

The event must use the barge and camera obscura as a central experience and could explore, through the viewing process, themes such as closeness and distance, belonging and not belonging, inclusion and exclusion.

The barge will be travelling to:
🌊24-25 June: Queenborough
🌊27-28 June: Canvey
🌊30 June - 1 July: Thorpe Bay
🌊3-6 July: Burnham
🌊8-11 July: Whitstable
🌊13-14 July: Oare Creek

🔗See link in bio to access the application form

📅Deadline for applications: 30 April 2026

If you have any questions: [email protected]

This project is in partnership with Raybel charters, Ideas Test and Metal Southend

Image 1 description: a photograph taken from below the deck of a sailing vessel, the background is dark and woman's face is visible above deck, her eyes are closed and there is a blue sky and part of the rigging shown behind her. Photograph by Sophia Nasif

Image 2 description: a photograph of Thames Sailing Barge Raybel moored at Benfleet Yacht Club for Estuary 2025. It is high tide and the sails are down. Photograph by Lorenza Peragine