Fun Palaces 2025: a nationwide celebration of culture and community — preview

Donovan from Headway’s Fun Palace 2024 on Hoxton Street Market shares his saltfish and plantain meal. Credit: Sean Pollock.

Fun Palaces is a UK-wide campaign that celebrates culture, community and creativity by encouraging people to share their own skills and passions in local spaces. This year, a  workshop in Headingley will help bring the movement to more spaces across Yorkshire. 

What if every library, theatre, museum, or local park could become a space of radical imagination, even just for a weekend? That’s the spirit behind Fun Palaces 2025, a nationwide invitation to open the doors of culture and welcome in the creativity that lives on every street. From 3–5 October, libraries, museums, theatres, and community groups across the UK will transform familiar spaces into bustling hubs of activity. And this year, you are invited to join the celebration.

The Fun Palace movement is rooted in the legacy of visionary theatre-maker Joan Littlewood, who in the 1960s imagined a “laboratory of fun” and “university of the streets.” A place where people could gather to learn, experiment and share their cultural passions. That same spirit inspired the first modern-day Fun Palaces in 2013 — and the movement has grown ever since.

Lego Screen Printing Fun Palace at Kresen Kernow, Cornwall 2024. Credit: Neal Megaw.

Since then, Fun Palaces has quietly sparked a cultural shift. Over 880,000 people have taken part in grassroots events created by and for their local communities. Whether it’s stage combat in a library, a garden chemistry demo, or a chalk timeline drawn on the pavement, Fun Palaces is a joyful reminder that culture isn’t something we consume — it’s something we make.

This year, the invitation is broader than ever thanks to the introduction of Tiny Fun Palaces — low-effort, high-impact mini-events designed to be intimate, personal and local. Think: seed swaps in the park. Poetry shared from a doorstep. A kitchen table turned into a craft station. It’s culture on your own terms — creative, collective and rooted in the everyday.

Amie Taylor, Director of Fun Palaces, calls it “a national campaign powered by local passion.” For her, it’s about “celebrating creativity in every community — whether it’s big and buzzing or tiny and tucked away.” That spirit of inclusivity is central. As Taylor puts it, “we’re making it easier than ever to get involved — whether in person, online, or from your front room.” This choose-your-own-adventure approach means anyone can join in, from live streamed science demos to community collages, big gatherings or quiet creative moments. All that matters is sharing what you love with others.

Marusia Makhmutova leads a collage workshop at art’otel London Hoxton Fun Palace 2024. Credit: Sean Pollock.

If you are new to Fun Palaces there is plenty of support to help you get started. A series of in-person workshops is touring the UK through May, June, and July, landing in places like Margate, Redruth, Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds, and London. These events are designed to spark ideas, build connections and demystify what creating a Fun Palace involves. There’s a workshop planned at Headingley Enterprise & Arts Centre in Leeds on Wednesday 2 July 6-8pm, open to anyone who: 

• Has never been involved in organising before and want to start 
• Is already involved in arts/science/culture and interested in new collaborations and working with grassroots communities
• Has access to a venue and want people to use your space
• Has an idea for an event and want support to make it happen
• Wants to meet other people/organisations doing creative work linking culture and community

If you prefer to learn from home, free online webinars will run from July to September. These events will cover everything from how to start planning to securing funding, promoting your event, and managing the practical bits like safeguarding. Guest speakers from past Fun Palaces will share tips — and probably some warm, funny chaos stories — along the way.

Curious? Ready? Already planning? There’s still time to jump in. Registration is open right up to and during the weekend itself. Whether you’re leading a local choir or planting seeds in jam jars with the kids, Fun Palaces is your reminder: creativity lives next door — and it’s time to let it shine.

***

You can keep up to date with Fun Palaces on their website and social media (Instagram, Facebook: @FunPalaces). The complete list of workshops for prospective event organisers can be found here and a Makers’ Toolkit to inspire ideas on creating a Fun Palace can be found here.