About this Event
Welcome to the second edition of the Tweed River Festival! Join us in Melrose in the Scottish Borders for two days of river-focused creative activities: from collective net-making to riverside listening walks; costume-making to screen-printing; circus performances to photography workshops; film screenings, food, wild swimming, a parade, and more!
Conceived as a gathering of river-loving communities, the 2026 festival is the culmination of Connecting Threads’ 2026 programming theme : which borrows its title from group dance warm-ups encouraging participants to focus on their relationships to the surrounding space and to each other. We invite you to join us as we trace connections between the river, our minds, our bodies, and our communities across a multitude of scales.
Our Friday programme is an exciting collaboration with Culture for Climate Scotland. Nurturing collaboration between the climate, environmental, and cultural sectors, this first day of the festival constitutes the fourth SPRINGBOARD local assembly in the Scottish Borders, following earlier iterations in St Boswells (October 2023), Walkerburn (October 2024) and Peebles (November 2025). The day is an open invitation to all who work with – or simply care deeply about – our rivers, climate, and the health of our communities.
Programme
On Friday, we gather for a SPRINGBOARD local assembly to practice collaboration across culture and climate. Facilitated by artist Eve Mosher, the theme of the day is entanglement. What if we worked collaboratively to build a net, acting as a carrier that brings to the river our collective dreams, experience, and acts for the future of the Tweed?
9:00-9:30am – Arrival and registration
9:30-10:00am – Meeting the river in ritual
10:00am-12:30pm – Entanglement: morning session. Choose from:
- Collective net-making workshop with Eve Mosher. Learning knot making skills to collectively weave our own net, we are prompted to consider: what if we understood a net not as something that takes away from the river, but as something to fill and bring to the river – where pulling on one string affects the whole?
- Current Perspectives: An Act of Time and Light with Louise McLachlan. In this artist talk and workshop, Louise McLachlan brings together her lived experience of disability and photographic practice to explore how a camera can be used to rediscover, reimagine and reclaim. Participants will be invited to consider how light and time shape what becomes visible, what remains hidden, and whose perspectives are represented.
- Beyond the Naked Eye with Keira Tucker (ASCUS). Experience the intricacy, beauty and complexity of the world around us through microscopy. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn to use a range of microscopes to explore the hidden details of natural materials that often go unnoticed.
12:30-1:30pm – Lunch
Connecting Threads are providing lunch. Please let us know any allergies or dietary requirements when you book.
1:30-4pm (refreshment break at 3pm) – Entanglement: afternoon session.
- Facilitated by Eve Mosher, afternoon session ‘the weight we carry/the gifts we bring’ invites us to imagine a future for the river. Objects will prompt us to creatively and expansively express what our capacities might be. We will learn about one another, fill our nets with ideas, and connect across sectors, interests and geographies – weaving our own mycelial network of strength and nourishment.
Ticketing
Friday (day one) of the festival, taking place on 30 October, is bookable as a day ticket. This covers your participation for the morning session, lunch, and afternoon session. The programme has been conceived to facilitate ideas, experiences and conversation across the day, so we highly encourage visitors to attend for the full day if possible.
Day tickets for Tweed River Festival are on a pay-what-you-can basis with a free option. If you are able to, paying for your ticket(s) will help support our continued activities.
Also happening on Friday:
- – From Tweedbank Station to the main festival venue. Ideal for those planning to get the train to Tweedbank arriving at 8:45am, but anyone is welcome to join the walk. Please register your interest here so we have an idea of numbers.
- – This happens later in the day, and is bookable separately here.
- – Ideal for anyone who would prefer to dip into the festival but not commit to a whole day of attendance. Drop-ins are welcome, but booking is encouraged so we have an idea of numbers.
Access
Please see the access info page on our website for details on Melrose Corn Exchange, other festival venues, and individual workshops. The page also contains information about access bursaries to attend Tweed River Festival – including a bursary for freelancers to attend Friday specifically.
About the SPRINGBOARD local assemblies
SPRINGBOARD local assemblies for creative climate action are dynamic regional networks of people and organisations working on culture and climate change – learning together, sharing knowledge and collaborating.
Local assemblies provide an opportunity to connect with fellow arts, culture, climate and environmental practitioners in your region to address climate change collectively.
This will be the fourth SPRINGBOARD local assembly in the Scottish Borders, following earlier iterations in St Boswells (October 2023), Walkerburn (October 2024) and Peebles (November 2025).
This local assembly is part of the Tweed River Festival, organised by the Southern Uplands Partnership, supported and part-funded by Culture for Climate Scotland.
About Culture for Climate Scotland
Culture for Climate Scotland is a charity that connects culture and climate change. They encourage and equip individuals, organisations and strategic bodies to harness the power of culture in achieving the transformational change to an environmentally sustainable Scotland.
Since 2022 they have collaborated with arts, culture and climate organisations, local authorities, climate hubs and others to deliver more than 25 SPRINGBOARD local assemblies across Scotland.
Event venue & nearby stays
Corn Exchange, Market Square, Melrose, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.