Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival 2025: Powering Climate Action Through Art

Richmond Council is proud to announce the return of the Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival (RAIF), running 13 to 29 June 2025, with this year’s theme: Cultural Reforesting.

Following Earth Day, the Council also reveals events in the festival programme, offering a glimpse into a summer of creativity, dialogue and connection in response to the climate crisis.

At a time when arts funding is being cut across the country – with London facing a £56 million reduction in public cultural investment since 2022 – Richmond upon Thames is driving a different path. RAIF 2025 shows the value of the arts beyond entertainment, but also as a force for climate action, social change, and community connection.

Councillor John Coombs, Richmond Council’s Spokesperson for Arts, said: "Earth Day reminds us that responding to the climate crisis requires imagination, empathy and urgency. Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival shows that the arts have a vital role to play. While others are retreating from cultural investment, we’re growing a space for collaboration, reflection and bold new thinking. Cultural Reforesting is our invitation to the borough, the city and beyond to reconnect with each other and with the planet – and to do so creatively."

As part of the Earth Day celebrations, the Council is also proud to announce a special preview event ahead of the festival:

Wisdom Conversations: River Ecologies

• Date: Sunday 27 April 2025
• Location: Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham and online
• Time: 1.30 to 3.30pm
• Tickets: Free (booking essential)

This thought-provoking conversation brings together poet Lucy Neal, researcher Dr. Lisa Mullett and local voices to reflect on what rivers can teach us about ecology, care and community. This event invites audiences to reflect on nature, community and renewal and offers a unique preview of the concepts the festival will explore.

In addition, the first six events from the full RAIF 2025 programme have now been announced. Each one reflects the festival’s commitment to exploring the intersections of art, nature and identity including Paterson Joseph’s Sancho & Me, a powerful performance reflecting on Black British identity, belonging, and justice; and Beuys’ Acorns inspired by Joseph Beuys' vision of social sculpture and forest regeneration.

View more events on the RAIF website.

The full programme will be announced Tuesday 6 May, including exhibitions, installations, performances, workshops and talks taking place across the borough from mid-June.

RAIF is an evolving cultural ecosystem. Rooted in collaboration, it brings together artists, scientists, educators, communities and local organisations to explore how communities live now and how they might live better. Every event responds to Cultural Reforesting, a growing movement that asks how we can repair our broken relationship with nature and with one another.

In line with Earth Day 2025’s global theme – Our Power, Our Planet – RAIF harnesses the creative power of communities to spark dialogue, renew hope and imagine more sustainable futures. Across parks, theatres, galleries, libraries and unexpected spaces, the borough will become a place where climate ideas take root and grow.