Hidden Door has announced the expansive line-up for its 2025 edition which this year will take place in the huge industrial estate of The Paper Factory in Edinburgh’s Maybury, in what the festival have described as an act of ‘artistic reclamation’ and their most ambitious project yet. Taking place from Wednesday 11–Sunday 15 June, the multi-artform experience will offer a panoply of music, immersive installations, dance performances, poetry, spoken word, unique collaborations and more from more than 100 creatives. 

The programme for this year’s festival will be built around the theme of ‘Building As A Myth’, and is spearheaded by a music programme kicked off on Wednesday by Bikini Body, Mermaid Chunky and Snapped Ankles. Thursday will be tinged with punk-pop from Witch Fever, Sprints and SISTER MADDS, while Friday will feature Alice Faye, Hidden Door favourites Tinderbox Orchestra and the dreamlike compositions of Erland Cooper. An indie rock-heavy Saturday will feature No Windows, The Orielles and Katy J Pearson, while Sunday will be soundtracked by Bee Asha, MC Yallah & Debmaster and Ishmael Ensemble’s eclectic jazz infused energy. Edinburgh institutions Samedia Shebeen and Paradise Palms Records will also be on hand. An open call will be released soon to invite emerging local talent to perform. 

Also on the bill are Isabella Strange, Pearling, Roller Disco Death Party, Smag På Dig Selv, Theo Bleak, Tina Sandwich and Y, with more to come.  

In the world of visual art, the programme promises more than 30 artists who’ll populate the many rooms of The Paper Factory with large sculptural installations, wall-based work, projection and textiles. Participating artists include Adam Hogarth, April Lannigan, Claire Marion Black, David Lemm, Dorsey Kaufmann, Ewan Douglas, Felicity Saravia White, Gosia Walton, Iona Peterson, Izzy Osborn, Jackie Bell, Jo McDonald, Juliana Capes, Laura McGlinchey, Lucas Chih-Peng Kao, Lucy Mulholland, Molly Wickett, Muireann Nic an Bheatha, Olivier Jacques Julien, Paul Meikle, Sam Sharma, Silas T Parry, Sue Sim, Tom Fairlamb, Valerie Reid, Vicky Higginson and Waad AlBawardi.

Poetry will also be well-represented on the programme, with spoken word readings from ten poets and performers every night, including award winning Theresa Muñoz, Glasgow poet Charles Lang and post-punk-music-spoken word-comedy duo FEVER PEACH, as well as Aileen Lees, Imogen Stirling, Josh Cake, Julia Sorensen, Sarah Forbes Stewart, Theresa Muñoz and Victoria McNulty. 

Experimental dance on offer includes Yuxi Jiang’s The Circle Unbound, an immersive dance theatre inspired by Tibetan Buddhist circular culture; Mark Bleakley's participatory and playful performance Dance Makes The Floor, which evokes past dance floors, both loved and lost; and works by Sabrina Gargano, Jessie Roberts-Smith, Katie Armstrong and Dorine Mugisha, with more to be announced.

Four newly commissioned interdisciplinary collaborations will also be dotted around the labyrinthine environs of The Paper Factory, directly tackling the ‘Building As A Myth’ theme through electronica, contemporary dance, vast installations and theatrical flourishes. 

In a first for a festival which has made its name by reclaiming abandoned spaces for one-off celebrations of the arts, the 15.5-acre site of The Paper Factory is acting as a base for Hidden Door to work with artists on site-specific performance and art, commission new work, and establish workshops and studios. The team kicked off its long-term vision for The Paper Factory with a venue launch party last November. 

‘Since November’s venue launch party,' said Hazel Johnson, festival director of Hidden Door, 'we’ve been busy clearing more of the vast industrial site and getting ready to fill every corner with our most ambitious programme yet. 

‘We exist to support the creative community and to connect audiences with emerging artists, and The Paper Factory will be at the heart of that ambition in 2025.’

Tickets for Hidden Door 2025 are on sale now. 

Hidden Door, The Paper Factory, Edinburgh, Wednesday 11–Sunday 15 June.