21–25 October 2025

Transform 25 is a festival of powerful international performance, happening from 21–25 October 2025 right here in Leeds.  

Witness visceral theatre, dance and performance alongside intimate experiences and moments of assembly. The festival creates a meeting point for the bold, the electrifying, the reflective and the hopeful. Bringing artists from across the globe to Leeds, Transform 25 invites us to collectively gather and look to a different kind of future.  

With audacious stories, joyful irreverence and sometimes dark realities – this is art about now. And it’s all Pay What You Can.

Transform 25 is supported using public funding by Arts Council England and funded by Leeds City Council & UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 

A woman of Bundjalung (Australia) and Ngāpuhi (Aotearoa/New Zealand) decent sits in a brightly lit room. Holding her right leg in the air she leans slightly forward, her left leg is crossed against the floor. Her dark hair is tied back into a ponytail. She is wearing a white shirt and bright blue trousers with matching trainers.
Tue 21 Oct 2025
Rinse
stage@leeds
Dance , Performance , Theatre
A black man is pictured in motion with his profile central to the image, he is visible only from the waist up. The room is brightly lit and has white industrial features. He has short, dark, afro hair and is wearing an oversized black t-shirt. His right arm extends out in front of him, bending at the elbow, his hand reaches around, resting on the nape of his neck.
Tue 21 Oct 2025
blackmilk
The Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre
Dance , Performance , Theatre
A crowd of people stand in a room with industrial features. They stand in smaller, intimate groups whilst talking and drinking. The lighting has a purple hue casting an atmospheric glow.
Tue 21 Oct 2025
Transform 25 Opening Moment
stage@leeds
Performance , Social , Theatre
Dan Daw is captured in motion against a minimalist white backdrop. He is tall, white and crippled and his torso and arms are decorated in colourful tattoos. Wearing a cream silk robe and small black underpants, he is air-born as if he was floating. Underneath him sits a mattress, covered in a white, textured sheet.
Wed 22 Oct 2025 - Thu 23 Oct 2025
EXXY
Leeds Playhouse
Dance , LGBT+ , Performance , Theatre
A group of people are seen from above in a dimly lit room. Ribbons in red, green, white, and blue form a loose, overlapping grid on the floor.
Wed 22 Oct 2025
Surrender
The Warehouse in Holbeck
Performance , Theatre
Ahamefule J. Olu sits centre stage surrounded by several objects including instruments, furniture and cardboard boxes. Wearing a black, short sleeve t-shirt and jeans they are capture in motion playing the trumpet. They have dark skin and cornrowed hair that reaches their shoulders. The room is in darkness yet Olu is visible through a soft, green spotlight.
Wed 22 Oct 2025
The Things Around Us
Howard Assembly Room
Comedy , Gig , Music , Performance
A man playing a trumpet sits beside a mixing desk, surrounded by cardboard boxes
Wed 22 Oct 2025
The Things Around Us
Howard Assembly Room
Gig , Music
A Palestinian man sits with his back to the camera, leaning forward against a wooden desk. With only his arm is visible, as he sits in darkness, he is holding a black and white photograph comprising of several people of mixed ages and genders. The desk rests against an wall covered in ornate pink and cream wallpaper. On top of the desk sits a metal lamp and a decorative wooden box.
Thu 23 Oct 2025 - Sat 25 Oct 2025
Dear Laila
Leeds Kirkgate Market
Performance , Theatre
A group of dancers of mixed heritage are pictured in motion, against a bright yellow backdrop. The dancers each lift their left legs in the air whilst their right leg remains on the ground. They are each wearing loose fitting clothing in a range of brightly coloured earth tones. The image is intentionally blurred to emphasize the dancers movements.
Thu 23 Oct 2025
Free
City Campus, Leeds Beckett University
Dance , Performance
Central to the image sits a white man. As he sits on a wooden chair, he gazes sideways with his arms bent in front of him. He has short, light brown hair and is wearing a red, short sleeve t-shirt and blue jeans. In the background stand 3 other people. Two are embraced, holding one another by the neck. The man is wearing a blue t-shirt and the woman is wearing a red shirt, both are wearing white shorts. To his right is a white man, he is wearing a blue check shirt and dark blue jeans.
Thu 23 Oct 2025 - Fri 24 Oct 2025
Perpetuum
Leeds City Centre
Dance , Exhibitions , Film , Performance , Visual Art
Pictured in motion, stands Eve Stainton against a cream backdrop. They are white with bright blonde scraped back hair, reaching just below their ears. Their shirt, in neutral, contrasting tones is a mixture of textures and materials. Their stance is strong, leaning exaggeratedly to the left. Their hand reaches forward as their index finger points out. Their image is duplicated and overlayed.
Fri 24 Oct 2025
The Joystick and The Reins
The Warehouse in Holbeck
Dance , Performance , Theatre
Two women, Eisa Jocson from the Philippines and Venuri Perera from Sri Lanka, perform under harsh spotlights, each holding long-handled straw brushes. Jocson stands in the foreground gazing upward, while Perera dances behind her.
Sat 25 Oct 2025
Magic Maids
Leeds School of Arts
Dance , Performance , Theatre