Why it matters: SPILL Festival 2025 runs from today, Thursday, 23 October, until Sunday, 26 October, with public spaces and venues across Ipswich hosting live arts and creative experiences. Many events are free.
The big picture: This year's programme taps into Ipswich and Suffolk's cultures, communities and histories whilst maintaining a global outlook, with artists from Italy, Slovenia, Denmark and Australia performing alongside local talent.
The details: The festival launches tonight from 18:00-21:00 at St Clement's Church, where visitors can explore the Leviathan installation, hear from Deacon and artists, and enjoy performances from special guests. Tickets cost £6 and include gourmet fish and chips or a vegetarian alternative. Age 10+.
The flagship international commission is Slovenian artist Mark Požlep's Leviathan, a large format audio-visual installation at St Clement's Church presenting an imagined dialogue between Suffolk's fishermen and the colossal Leviathan, a mythological sea creature and witness to ecological collapse. It can be experienced throughout the festival weekend. Free.
On Saturday at 12:00-14:00, Požlep will lead the Leviathan Artist Walk, a two-hour round trip by bus to encounter one of the coastal landscapes featured in his installation. Tickets cost £15 including transport.
This is followed at 14:30-15:30 by To Make A Living From The Sea, a discussion at St Clement's Church on the history of Suffolk's fishing industries, with Dr Tom Johnson, Associate Professor of Medieval History at Oriel College, Oxford. Age 10+. £5.
Weekend highlights: On the Cornhill on Saturday and Sunday at 10:00-11:00 and 14:00-15:00, Italian company Stalker Teatro presents Steli, an interactive event where families work together to build a huge wooden structure from brightly coloured long sticks. Once complete, visitors can explore their creation by walking under, around and through it. Age 4+. Free.
At St Stephen's Church on Saturday night, theatre maker Kirsty Tallent will turn the clock back to the 80s through the lens of her new play Brown Babies, curating the music, memories and magic of Cindy's nightclub. Featuring funk, soul and hip-hop, the vinyl sets by DJs with a connection to Ipswich include "A Bedroom Set Somewhere in Nacton" by Kirsty Tallent, "Welcome to CINDYS" by Marcus Harris-Noble and guests, and "The Attic, Another Lost Club" by Eli Turay. Entry costs a truly 1980s £1.50. Age 18+.
Earlier on Saturday at 14:00-16:00, Tallent will be at The Key, the site of the original Cindy's nightclub where her white mum and Black USAF dad met in the 1980s, for a participatory workshop and discussion about "Brown Baby" experiences, where one parent is white British and the other is a Black GI or US services personnel. Age 16+. £5.
Music and performance: SPILL vs Brighten The Corners on Friday from 20:00-23:00 at St Stephen's Church will be a celebratory night of music and DJing co-curated by both organisations. Headliners are Ebi Soda, a six-strong group of jazz subversives who have enjoyed airtime and praise from Huey Morgan and Jamz Supernova on BBC 6 Music, Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio 2, and China Moses on Jazz FM. Age 18+ (age 14+ if accompanied by an adult). £10.
Family events: Monsters by Andy Field and Beckie Darlington is a post-apocalyptic fairy tale created by and starring primary school aged children from East Anglia. Their experimental documentary film, in which they imagine a world after monsters have arrived, will be screened on Friday at 18:00-19:00 (doors 17:30) at King Street Theatre, followed by a Q&A with the artists and young performers. Film rated PG. Free but pre-booking essential.
Kaboom: The Art of Destruction by Live Art Denmark offers family-friendly performances at Ipswich Town Hall Council Chamber at 11:00-11:45 and 15:00-15:45 on Saturday and Sunday, recreating 18 famous acts of artistic destruction. Made by the same team that brought the sell-out 50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) to SPILL in 2023. Age 6+. Tickets £10 adults, £7 children.
Exhibitions: Port to Port by Sophie Giller is an inspiring colourful installation at The Hold throughout the weekend, featuring large-scale patchwork sails supported by curved maritime benches. Local participants in Lowestoft and Ipswich have embedded personal memories, images and favourite objects in screen prints and painted tiles. All ages. Free.
Never Succeed at Silence by SPILL Associate Isiah Jordan is already on display in the outdoor gallery outside New Wolsey Theatre. The exhibition is the culmination of a six-month project with 15- to 19-year-olds that focuses on photography as a means of empowerment, self-expression, storytelling and community engagement. Their free zine publication will be available during the festival at various venues across the town. All ages. Free.
Festival closing: The Festival Closing Ceremony takes place on Sunday at 17:00-18:00 at St Clement's Church, featuring a special performance by artists Justin Hopper and Stuart Bowditch, and the ringing of a brand-new peal specifically composed for Suffolk by Mark Požlep. Hopper and Bowditch will present Lead Us Past Pursuers, a live text-and-sound performance inspired by Suffolk and Essex landscapes, using texts borrowed from and inspired by 19th century enclosure records, artists' writings, religious tracts, and field recordings collected from sites of John Constable's paintings. Age 10+. Free.
The bottom line: SPILL Festival 2025 offers four days of unusual and memorable experiences, from the seriously thought-provoking to the purely playful, bringing world-class artists to Ipswich whilst celebrating local talent and community.
