Rude Health Festival returns to Cambois with programme of world-class art and performance
Artist-led community charity The Tute returns with Rude Health Festival in Cambois, offering a wealth of world-class, anarchic and daring performances.
Running from October to December 2025, the festival platform’s themes of health, belonging, womanhood, grief, and care.
Explored through a rich season of dance, theatre, film and visual art, Rude Health Festival is staged entirely a repurposed miners’ welfare institute in a newly ‘Reform’ parish council ward in Cambois, Southeast Northumberland.
Following the success of last year’s inaugural edition, the 2025 programme raises the bar with a vibrant line-up. This line-up includes winner of the Bonnie Bird Choreography Award and Total Theatre Award at Edinburgh Festival 2017, Liz Aggiss, Alistair McDowall, Yuvel Soria, Alex Oates, Lucy Suggate and the winner of Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2024 Charlie Ford.
Joint artistic director Esther Huss commented: “We’ve really carefully considered the needs of our community and put together a programme that we feel is relevant and meaningful to our neighbours and we’ve curated a set of projects that respond with care and imagination.
"It’s incredibly humbling that artists we’ve long admired want to support that vision. There’s a sense that something special is happening here in Cambois.”
Joint artistic director Alex Oates added: “We’re proving that tackling public health issues and creating community impact doesn’t mean compromising on artistic ambition.
"Our audience deserve the same calibre of work you’d see in London or Edinburgh, and we’re bringing it here! This season brings together bold new performances, reimagined community projects, and unforgettable stories told through dance, theatre, film, and celebration.”
This year’s festival will sees the return of Cambois Hidden Depths Revisited (October 12) – a celebration and continuation of 2024’s historic street theatre event. See the full lineup of events here.
Alongside performances, Rude Health 2025 deepens The Tute’s community and school programmes.
Projects include Write Now a creative writing initiative at Bedlington Academy led by Hilary Elder, Be Moved, early-years dance sessions with Skye Reynolds and Twinkle Arti, a touring suitcase show, adapted by playwright Danielle Slade, to support children impacted by parental mental health and substance abuse. Rude Health Festival is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, with the North East Combined Authority as Lead Authority, and supported by QTS.