All Change Opens the Festival

On Saturday 29 March in front of a packed crowd, the S&DR200 festival launched with All Change, a spectacular open-air show in Bishop Auckland on the 11Arches site, which combined dazzling projections, drones and 60 live performers.

The nine-month international festival, delivered by Darlington Borough Council, Durham County Council and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, runs from March to November 2025 across County Durham and the Tees Valley. It is inspired by the first journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the north east of England, which gave birth to the modern railway.

Infant Hercules, Teesside's largest community male voice choir, also performed a medley of traditional and rousing songs honouring the five distinct boroughs of the Tees Valley, with 'Wildcats of Kilkenny' Mike McGrother at the helm.

In the build up to the main event, attendees enjoyed artworks by local talent including Lewis Hobson, known for painting some of Durham's largest and most beloved murals, who created a live graffiti piece. Meanwhile environmental artist Steve Messam presented Whistle, a large-scale sound installation created by placing a series of replica steam locomotive whistles around Bishop Auckland, mapping historic sites and evoking the rich industrial past of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

The show All Change showcased how trains and their history have influenced the way we live, and how it all started with the S&DR in 1825, one small but significant journey that changed the world. Travelling through the last 200 years from the Industrial Revolution, and two World Wars to the present, celebrating the transformative power of trains on the landscape and our lives. Inspired by conversations with historians, the spectacle brought history to life with large-scale set pieces all created by imitating the dogwho created the show from projection mapping, original music. All Change featured a fleet of 400 drones from world-renowned SKYMAGICwhich created a breathtaking visual experience against the night sky. A troupe of amazing performers and local community teams from 11Arches brought the show to life.

IMAGE CREDIT : Ed Waring