New Wave is a training programme made possible with the support of players of People's Postcode Lottery. It takes a small group of local festival organisers through a structured programme focused on working with young adults.
Archive adventures
Archives Escape! (Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries, Nottinghamshire)
Gather your friends for this unique escape room adventure – stranded in the eerily deserted archives you will need to unravel the clues left behind by an enigmatic historian to escape before you are accessioned into the collection. With only 45 minutes to escape it’s a real race against the clock!
Games galore
Gather for Games (National Trust, Somerset)
Take your days out to the next level with this interactive gaming experience! Discover the evolution of gaming from the Georgian period to present day, try your hand at historic games, play them as they were played hundreds of years ago, and explore the beautiful Assembly Rooms.
Gather for games at Bath Assembly Rooms
Discover the history of gaming at Bath Assembly Rooms. (© National Trust Images/Annapurna Mellor)
Songs of the sea
Shanty Social @ HMS Warrior (National Museum of the Royal Navy, Hampshire)
Step aboard the HMS Warrior for an afternoon of traditional sea shanties and maritime merriment. Discover what life was like on a Victorian warship, sample classic Royal Navy drinks, and if you book early, you may even snag a treasure-filled goody bag!
Proggy pride party
Proggy Pride Party (Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear)
You’re invited to the Proggy Pride Party - a fun, accessible, sensory safe event with TRANS-formative heritage crafts to try for LGBTQIA+ young adults and allies! Meet new people and get creative with proggy - a traditional textile craft using old rags and hessian sacking to make mats.
Proggy pride party
What will you create at proggy pride? (© Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens)
Sublime stained-glass
Glassmaster (All Saints North Street, North Yorkshire)
It's 1410 and one of York's most prominent merchant families have commissioned a new stained-glass window – can you make the winning design? Join in this exciting interactive event that transports you back in time on a mission to impress the Blackburns with your new stained-glass window for All Saints North Street. Discover clues about this family and use your knowledge to be in with a chance of making the winning design – with a prize up for grabs!
Stories from six feet under
Stories from the Soil (Wardsend Cemetery Heritage Park, South Yorkshire)
Go on a creative (and slightly eerie) journey through the cemetery with an immersive experience that uncovers the stories of local creatives - from carvers and painters to photographers and musicians. Be inspired by the natural significance of the site, have a go at a cyanotype workshop using natural materials such as leaves and flowers.
Stories from the soil
What will you uncover on this cemetery walk? (© Wardsend Cemetery Heritage Park)
Graffiti + green gatherings
(Oxford Preservation Trust, Oxfordshire)
Going green: Get creative and customise your old clothes and tote bags with iconic Oxford stencils at this hands-on upcycling workshop with graffiti artist Mani.
Graffiti trail: Grab your walking boots and explore the city. Discover graffiti, carvings, and hidden treasures from years gone by.
Railway rock and ramble!
(Mechanics Institution Trust, Wiltshire)
Party at the Hospital: In the heart of Swindon’s Railway Village you can find the old Great Western Hospital home to this celebration of creativity. Be immersed in a buzzing atmosphere filled with live music, crafts, exhibitions, virtual tours, games - and of course a pub quiz!
A jaunty walk about town: Explore the railway village with this special trail created by young people.
Party at the hospital
No gowns required at this hospital party. (© The New Mechanics Institute Trust)
Pride at the pavilion
Pride at the Pavilion (Gorleston Pavilion Trust Ltd, Norfolk)
This fabulous festival celebrates thirty years of queer management of this Pavilion and launches the site as a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community. Enjoy performances from queer artists, from outdoor performances to acoustic sessions in the theatre bar, dance workshops, backstage tours and technical workshops throughout the day.
A poetry paradise
In a Strange Place (National Trust, London)
Over three nights unleash your inner poet with a series of unique poetry workshops in a beautiful yet fragile terraced house. Each workshop has a different creative prompt encouraging young people to explore their artistic potential.
In a strange place
Unleash your creativity at this awe-inspiring site. (©National Trust Images/Megan Taylor)
Trail through the town
Celebrating Newcastle 850 (GROW North Staffordshire, Staffordshire)
Get ready to wander and explore to find this unique photography display and self-led tour of the city in one celebrating the Ancient Borough of Newcastle under Lyme in its 850th anniversary year - keep an eye out for photographs in shop windows, council buildings, and on interactive display boards!
Old library, new art
Liverpool Lives (Lister Steps, Merseyside)
Young local artists come together to showcase their creative talent and explore the stories of the community, as well as personal histories of The Old Library through photography, audio, and art - all set in a wonderful Grade II listed building. But fear not, there will be no shushing in the Library at this event, which be filled with performances from young artists.
Liverpool lives at Lister Steps
Celebrate the glory days of Liverpool's old library. (© Edward McCormack)
Do you want to build a glasshouse?
Do you want to build a glasshouse? (Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Birmingham)
Get a team together for this hand-on competition and build miniature glasshouses out of bamboo, inspired by the glasshouses found at these beautiful botanical gardens. Built in 1832, the glasshouses are the perfect setting for this competition with wonderful prizes of one year membership to the gardens and a £100 Voucher up for grabs - if you’re creative or a Lego lover this is not one to be missed!
Serenity at Shakespeare's
Mixing with History and Wellness (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-Upon-Avon)
Visit the beautiful gardens of Hall's Croft with an A Midsummer Night's Dream soundscape and a tranquil and welcoming safe space to talk, craft, and meet new people. Inspired by the site’s medicinal past, explore health and wellness, make flower crowns and mocktails, and learn from a Herbalist!
Mixing with history and wellness at Hall's Croft
Make a crown fit for the Queen of the Fairies. (© Shakespeare Birthplace Trust)
Ripple effect - a New Wave legacy
- Interactive Time Maze (Hillingdon Council, Greater London) - Created last year but unable to go ahead, but the time loop has unwound and they are back for those that dare this September!
- The Crew's Camera (Berwick HODs + Berwick Community Crew, Northumberland) - Old meets new as Berwick's New Wave crew return!
PLEASE NOTE - These events were accurate at the time of publication but the details may change. Some events require pre-booking. Please check the individual entries for updates and details.
Find out more
- New Wave - Discover more about the programme
- Festival Spotlights - Like this post? Find more inspiration in our other spotlights
- What's on? - Explore more fascinating events