Skip to content
  • About us
  • News
  • Our Spring Season has arrived!

    • Our Spring Season has arrived!

    10 Dec 2025

    Winter/spring season brings UK premieres, exclusives, new names, legends and innovators to the Gulbenkian Arts Centre.

    Gulbenkian Arts Centre continues to deliver an exceptional and diverse programme of theatre, live music, comedy and cinema to kick off 2026 with a bang. Here are a few of the performers you can expect to see on our stage, browse our website or brochure for the full programme.

     Spring 26 Brochure – Large Print

    Theatre & Dance

     

    In March, Stan’s Café bring their internationally renowned Of All The People In All The World (25-28 Mar) to the Colyer-Fergusson Hall. This politically charged installation/performance will transform the Hall into a gallery space, where performers will weigh and divide a ton of rice into exact piles to resemble groups of people and population statistics.

    In April, the exclusive UK debut of Claudia Castellucci, choreographer and co-founder of the hugely influential Societas Raffaello Sanzio, here with Mòra Company presenting the ethereal Sahara (10 & 11 Apr).

    In May, there is the groundbreaking Second Trimester (8 May), the much-anticipated follow up to the critically acclaimed ‘First Trimester’. Presented by Battersea Arts Centre, trans performance artist Krishna Istha and their mother Geeta Shankar confront pregnancy, loss, gender and inherited memories in this Bollywood inspired epic family saga.

     

    Specialist work for neurodiverse audiences

     

    Frozen Light return to Gulbenkian with specialist work for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). The company graduated from the University of Kent over a decade ago and have built a really strong reputation for the wonderful touring work they create for neurodiverse audiences. This year the come with new work, The Ancient Oak of Baldor (27 -29 Mar).

     

    National Theatre Connections Partner Festival

     

    In April, Gulbenkian are proud to host the annual NT Connections Festival (22-26 Apr) for the region. Ten young (13-19) Kent-based school and community companies from across Kent perform in front of National Theatre Directors, with outstanding companies from macros the UK invited to perform at the National itself in June.

     

    Family

     

    The theatre programme is also packed with family favourite’s including The Gruffalo’s Child (5-7 Mar), The Littlest Yak (17 & 18 Feb), The Singing Mermaid 30 & 31 May) and David Walliams’ There’s a Snake in My School (23-25 Jun), alongside the eco-friendly production Stories in the Dust (10 May).

     

    Live Music

     

    The music programme includes music legends Colin Blunstone (8 May), Ute Lemper (7 Mar), and the music of Nick Drake performed by Keith James (21 Feb), alongside the psychedelic Gong + Henge (20 Mar) and the beautiful Persian music of Kayhan Kalhor (24 Apr).

     

    And grass roots music from Kent is being celebrated through You Are Here (27 Feb – 1 Mar), a groundbreaking new collaborative festival produced and curated by a consortium of many of the leading promoters, presenters and festivals in Kent, and through Kentronica (16 May), a day-long festival of electronic music.

     

    Comedy

     

    As ever, Gulbenkian is hosting a range of big names from the comedy circuit including Joel Dommett (4 Mar), Lou Sanders (1 Apr), Mark Simmons (7 & 8 Apr) and Kane Brown (13 May).

    ART31

    ART31 takes its name from Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, which states that ‘Children have the right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities’.

    ART31 is a vision created with, by, and for young people in Kent, championing the belief that all children and young people have an entitlement to access high quality arts and culture, to empower them to achieve their creative potential, and to genuinely engage young people as equal partners in any decision making that affects them.

    The ART31 Youth Board is made up of young people from across Kent aged 13-25 who steer its governance, and influence policy and practice across the county and beyond, challenging the creative sector to examine existing ways of working and integrate young people into the core of their practice.

    Our projects with young people

    GENFest Young people posing in a cardboard Instagram frame

    ART31 Generate

    Providing workshops, support, and performance opportunities, Generate is where creativity gives voice to young perspectives whether in theatre making, film media, music, visual arts and more!

    Youth Theatre
    Live Streaming film equipment.

    SCREEN31

    Screen31 is a group for young people aged 15-25 interested in developing their film-making skills.
    TECH31

    TECH31

    Set over two days TECH31 is a free workshop designed to provide 13-25 year olds with an opportunity to develop their skills in sound, lighting, stage management and much more. 

    National Theatre Connections – Gulbenkian Young Company

    NT Connections is the National Theatre’s nationwide youth theatre festival. Each year it offers a unique opportunity for youth theatres and school theatre groups to stage new plays written for young people by some of theatre’s most exciting playwrights, and to perform in leading theatres across the UK.
    Gulbenkian Uncovered image 03

    Gulbenkian Uncovered

    Are you enthusiastic, committed and creative? Gulbenkian Uncovered gives University of Kent students the chance to programme films and run events.

    Square Pegs 1

    Square Pegs Arts

    Square Pegs Arts are an award winning charity who provide drama groups, music projects and other accessible Arts opportunities for children and young adults who have learning disabilities and autism, and produce original, inspiring, challenging Theatre. Difference is celebrated and everyone is supported to shine in their own way.
    A selection of images arranged on a wall

    KRAN Fam

    KRAN Fam is a drama group in partnership with Kent Refugee Action Network for young refugees and asylum-seekers.

    Accessible Film Club

    Relaxed Screenings

    Monthly film screenings that are open to all, especially those with autism and learning disabilities.

    Young People - Screen31 ARTY31

    ARTY31

    Gulbenkian’s ARTY31 group is for young people aged 8-12 with a wide variety of arts interests.

    Film tickets

    Results
    Clear
    See what other events are happening at the Gulbenkian
    What's on Link icon