- When: Saturday 26 September 2026, 11am to 3pm
- Where: Staines Library Hub in Staines-Upon-Thames
The festival offers free workshops and shows for young people aged 11 to 18. These cover many fun and creative activities! The festival helps young people get involved in the arts. It also shows the great ways to learn and grow creative skills in Surrey.
The following workshops require you to book your place:
- Sound Labs with Surrey Arts
- Coding games workshop with Chaos Created
- Filming the Big Bang! with National Film and Television School
Booking links to sign up for these workshops will be available soon.
The Library Hub, Staines-Upon-Thames
Sound Labs with Surrey Arts
Time:
- 11am to 12pm
- 12:30pm to 1:30pm
- 2pm to 3pm
Location: The Garden Room, Staines Library Hub
Booking: Please note you will need to book to attend these worskhops. Booking details will be published soon.
Get ready to dive into the world of music production in our hands-on, interactive workshop, where you’ll explore the creative possibilities of Ableton Live and Ableton Push - the industry standard tools used by producers and artists worldwide.
Guided by our experienced tutors, you’ll learn how to record sounds and create beats in a relaxed setting, gaining practical skills that can spark your own musical ideas. Perfect for anyone curious about music technology, this session is all about creativity, collaboration and having fun with sound.
Coding games workshop with Chaos Created
Time:
- 11am to 12:10pm
- 12:40pm to 1:50pm
- 2:20pm to 3:10pm
Location: Upstairs Computers in Staines Library Hub
Booking: Please note you will need to book to attend these worskhops. Booking details will be published soon.
Led by a real-world app and game developer, this Coding Games Workshop teaches coding fundamentals with a very practical workshop, designed for beginners with no previous coding experience required.
Get hands-on and create an arcade-style game, complete with your own pixel-art graphics, which you'll be able to play and develop further from home and share with your family and friends. During this workshop, we'll be developing an arcade-style space-shooter, complete with basic gaming physics, a score and health system, and creating some fun enemies and power-ups in the process.
Filming the Big Bang! with National Film and Television School
Time: 1pm to 3pm
Location: Staines Library Hub
Booking: Please note you will need to book to attend these worskhops. Booking details will be published soon.
Delve into the explosive realm of cosmology as we embark on a journey to recreate the awe-inspiring event of the Big Bang. In this immersive workshop, attendees will harness the power of chemistry and physics to simulate the birth of the universe, all while capturing every moment on film.
Guided by their imagination, attendees will work in groups to script, storyboard and create their unique dramatic reinterpretation of the Big Bang and film every detail with an array of techniques to produce a library of different ‘Big Bang’ shots. Everyone will receive a copy of their film via a downloadable link.
Floor to Fabric - textile printmaking
Time: 11am to 3pm
Location: Staines Library Hub
Booking: no booking required.
Everyone is welcome to explore local history through contemporary textile printmaking, inspired by the linoleum flooring and tile collection at Spelthorne Museum. Participants will reimagine old geometric motifs and repetitive patterns, using foam relief printing and stencil-based textile techniques to create their own fabric “tile” onto calico.
The individual textile tiles will then be assembled into one large collaborative installation, forming a patchwork-inspired surface reminiscent of tiled flooring and decorative interiors, demonstrating how historical design continues to inspire contemporary art, personal expression and community storytelling.
Come and Try with Surrey Arts
Time: 12pm to 3pm
Location: Staines Library Hub
Booking: no booking required.
Come and try playing a new instrument with Surrey Arts teachers.
Drop in at any time between 12pm and 3pm to have a go.
DJ Workshops with Moyma
Time: All day
Location: Staines Library Hub
Booking: no booking required.
Get hands-on with vinyl in this interactive session DJ session and try scratching and mixing on vinyl. This drop-in session is headphone-only, with two participants at a time.
Perfect for beginners. No prior experience required.
Ukrainian Guitar Group Performance, Surrey Arts Inclusion Team
Time: 11:15am to 11.30m
Location: Performance area, Staines Library Hub
Booking: no booking required.
Surrey Arts is proud to support many young people throughout the county in accessing musical education and opportunities. Through external funding, the Inclusion Team have been able to support students in local Ukrainian Hubs to learn instruments.
Led by their amazing Ukrainian tutor, we present some of our wonderful students in a short musical performance.
SG Troop Performance with Stopgap Dance Company
Time: 11.30am to 12pm
Location: Performance area, Staines Library Hub
Booking: no booking required.
Sg Troop are one of Stopgap Dance Company’s community performance groups. The sessions focus on developing the dancers to become more confident in their artistic voice by opening them up to different ways of moving and making work.
This specific performance shows just that, by taking the time to explore who we are individually.
Modern Day Poetry with Woodzy
Time:
- 11:30am to 12:30pm
- 1:15pm to 2:15pm
Location: Staines Library Hub
Booking: no booking required.
Award-winning Surrey poet, Woodzy, invites you to explore the power of words by creating your own unique poem. Whether you're already a poet, or never written before, these fun, drop-in workshops are for everyone.
At 3pm, hear your ideas come to life as Woodzy performs a fresh piece crafted from the words of the day.
Escalate Arts Film Festival 2026 Screenings
Time: 11am to 3pm
Location: Staines Library Hub
Booking: no booking required.
Join us in the library during the Youth Arts and Culture Festival for screenings of the shortlisted entries in the Escalate Arts Film Festival 2026. These inspiring short films have been written, directed, and produced by talented young filmmakers aged 18 and under, showcasing a diverse range of creative voices, stories, and perspectives.
The programme highlights the imagination, technical skill, and artistic vision of emerging local talent, offering audiences the opportunity to experience original work from the next generation of filmmakers.
Films will be screened throughout the festival on library screens, providing visitors with the chance to enjoy and celebrate youth creativity. An awards ceremony recognising the outstanding entries will take place in the library at 4:00 pm.