Programme

Festival activity

Dates, times and locations will be published in due course. Full What's On listings will be available on our website in December 2024.

A Memorable Journey  

Various locations throughout 2025. 

A mass-participation art project for visitors to festival venues, school children, care home residents and communities across the region. The public will be asked to reflect on a personal memorable journey and use that as inspiration to decorate a small wooden doll. These will be installed at a venue at the end of the festival and photographed, digitised, and archived, to represent a snapshot of travel memories.   

Trail of Discovery  

Available Spring 2025. 

Developed by Teesside University, players of this digital interactive way-finding game will collect tokens to build a series of locomotives whilst being taken on a voyage through history. Players will learn more about the pioneering innovations of the S&DR via augmented reality and explore key locations in immersive and dynamic ways.  

Learning and Skills 

Various locations throughout 2025.  

Activity includes the S&DR Invention Challenge from Little Inventors where children will use their creativity and imagination to invent a new and innovative vision of future rail travel. Other activity includes the S&DR Young Producers Programme for 16 to 24 years olds and activity with Tees Valley Museum Group and Sparks to launch new teacher resources on the S&DR and virtual classes for young people to develop creative, digital and problem-solving skills.  

Public art commissions 

Various locations throughout 2025.   

New public art commissions at key sites including the Mason's Arms in Shildon, Stockton Riverside, Darlington train station and Preston Park Museum & Grounds. Artworks include a sculpture by James Bawn, a series of murals across the region and a wind-powered kinetic piece by Ivan Black in collaboration with local engineering students.  

Fringe 

Various locations throughout 2025. 

The Fringe Festival will include events created by community organisations, local businesses and heritage partners. Including a series of walks by the Friends of S&DR, cycle tours by Institution of Civil Engineers, and events made possible through the S&DR 26 Miles Community Grant Scheme, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.  

Opening event 

Bishop Auckland. 
29 March 2025. 

Travel through time and place, as imitating the dog and SKYMAGIC bring their distinctive combination of technology, live performance, and drone show to a celebration of the bold innovation, creative thinking and ingenuity that led to the world-changing opening of the S&DR. This unique show will freewheel through time from the spark of an idea to the early locomotives, which powered the world into a new era. A story which moved people then, today and into the future.  

Hopetown Darlington 

From April 2025. 

Hopetown Darlington will present: a display of early locomotives which were critical to future rail success, a sensory and immersive installation inspired by steam as a source of power by Studio Swine, an exhibition exploring the future of transport and skills in the era of climate crisis and amidst a growing green technologies sector in Teesside and the chance to create a train for the 22nd century using virtual reality software. In partnership with industry partners, LNER and others.

Locomotion 

Shildon. 
From April 2025 . 

Locomotion, located in Shildon, known as 'the cradle of the railways', will present: an exhibition highlighting Railway Firsts in Main Hall in recognition of the innovation at the heart of S&DR, the Young Railway of The Year competition, three line-ups of iconic locomotives and rail vehicles that will speak to 200 years of railway history,  talks and lectures aimed at railway enthusiasts, and every weekend and throughout the school holidays there will be activities for families on offer.  

Preston Park Museum and Grounds 

Stockton-on-Tees.  
In 2025. 

Preston Park will present: a display of nationally important artworks related to the railways and seen for the first time in the region, a botanical installation by Rebecca Louise Law, a sensory installation by Yann Nguema, an interactive train-themed playscape for under-6s and a bug station built with architect Grace Choi and workshop participants. Plus, the first public archaeological dig along the original S&DR line which sits within the museum grounds.  

The Story and other exhibitions 

Durham and various locations.  
Throughout 2025. 

Through authentic voices from letters, diaries, court papers, and other day-to-day records from their collections, The Story will uncover the impact of the Stockton & Darlington Railway on the socio-economic fabric of the region.  

A touring library exhibition with high-quality re-productions of important historical artefacts and documents from the collections of Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), The Common Room, National Railway Museum and Teesside Archives.  

Other museums and galleries in the region will present S&DR-related exhibitions and displays including an exhibition at the Mining Art Gallery at the Auckland Project in Bishop Auckland, the Bowes Museum and Raby Castle. 

Ghost Train  

Darlington 20 September 2025. 
Stockton 28 September 2025. 

Two major outdoor events inspired by the Stockton and Darlington Railway story. The first features a procession through Darlington, showcasing large-scale art installations representing pivotal modern inventions. The following week, in Stockton town centre, a spectacular theatrical reimagining will commemorate the historic arrival of Locomotion No. 1 into Stockton harbour in 1825, marking the birth of the modern railway. Co-produced by Avanti Display and Walk the Plank, from a creative concept developed by Andy Plant, Bill Palmer, Bryan Tweddle and Chris Squire. 

Anniversary Celebration 

26, 27 and 28 September 2025. 

A newly renovated replica of Locomotion No. 1, the passenger carriage 'Experiment' and coal waggons will run on sections of the original S&DR line over three days. Spectators will be able to see the train at designated locations and enjoy an accompanying programme of special events organised along the route. We are working with partners Network Rail and LNER on the Anniversary Celebration. 

WOW  

Durham Gala.
17 and 18 October 2025. 

The first ever WOW Festival in the north-east of England will be packed with unmissable talks and performances, celebrating achievements and stories from women, girls, and non-binary people from the region and beyond. Following in the footsteps of WOW Festivals that have taken place around the world in 45 locations from Rio to Karachi, there'll be a special programme for local schools on Friday, followed by a day-long WOW Festival on Saturday, featuring big ideas from incredible women, family fun and more. Everyone is welcome.