The 9th annual INK Live Arts Festival (24-27 Apr 2025) in rural Suffolk featured over 70 short new plays for stage and radio, and poetry, stand-up comedy, music, short films.
We aim to improve community pride, increased diversity, inspiration, and footfall. We also aim to provide great opportunities for writers and theatre practitioners UK wide.
The festival engulfs Halesworth with live, original, and diverse events in different exciting venues such as a garage and a museum. There are huge opportunities to take part for volunteers and the programme is designed to appeal to all ages at a reasonable cost—free to some.
Since INK's inception, demand has continued to increase and the festival has kept growing apace. This is the local theatre and town’s biggest event and is unique to the area. New short play submissions drew from 15 in 2015 to over 2000 in 2022. Careers have been launched and a creative community arisen. Everyone wants to return. The original plays that are put on are accessible, under 30 minutes long, and while some take on challenging topics, audiences embrace them. The town of Halesworth is increasingly involved, with many businesses offering free venues and services. Audiences and the commercial footfall is growing. We know, from previous youth targeted projects, that there is an appreciation and appetite for more, especially from students who have never experienced live theatre.
