Barnsley set to host groundbreaking 10th AND Festival, showcasing extraordinary digital art, screenings and performance

Abandon Normal Devices (AND) Festival, the UK’s only nomadic festival of art, technology and digital culture, returns for its landmark 10th edition in Barnsley on Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September 2026.  

Over one transformative weekend, the festival will deliver extraordinary art and installations using state-of-the-art emerging technologies and collaborating with visionary artists that push the boundaries of immersive experiences.  

Activating in South Yorkshire for the first time, AND festival will premiere large-scale artworks, that respond to unusual and iconic locations across the borough. From interactive XR (Extended Reality) installations, bold performances and screenings, to stimulating talks from leading creative experts, the festival tunes into Barnsley’s ambitions to be the UK’s leading digital town, and to the North’s identity as a place of creativity, innovation, connectivity and cultural exchange. 

In previous festival editions, AND has welcomed thousands of audience members of all ages to engage with art, performances, and film screenings inside caves, carparks, forests and ferries, encouraging us to look at the world from a new perspective. Building on a legacy of adventurous and experimental programmes, AND Festival 2026 will playfully uncover the hidden infrastructures that shape how we all live and connect to each other, from distribution hubs, subterranean trails and tunnels, to the digital networks that vitally hooks us into a world beyond our local communities.  

Whether you’re a culture lover, urban explorer or you live or work in Barnsley and are keen to see your hometown from a different perspective, AND Festival invites you to be boldly curious and experience Barnsley anew. 

Details on events, artists and tickets will be released in 2026. 

Tadeo Lopez-Sendon, Chief Executive for Abandon Normal Devices said: “Since 2009, AND has transformed landscapes across the North into electrifying spaces for artistic and creative experimentation. AND Festival 2021 responded to the Manchester Ship Canal and River Mersey using augmented reality seascapes, immersive voyages and floating bio-art labs, expanded through an online programme of radical conversations. In 2017, the festival reimagined the caves and valleys of the Peak District through sound, performance and ethereal visual landscapes, creating unique encounters that could only exist in those settings. AND Festival 2026 extends that legacy into Barnsley, uncovering the region’s hidden infrastructures and transforming them into shared spaces of imagination and encounters. We can’t wait to welcome the curious people of Barnsley and beyond into the world of AND” 

Cllr Robin Franklin, Barnsley Council’s cabinet spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture, said: “We are so excited to partner with AND and bring this innovative, world-leading digital arts festival to Barnsley. We want to give our residents and visitors, and particularly our young people, amazing experiences that spark curiosity, learning and ambition. This festival will do exactly that, and shows our commitment to exploring all that digital technologies can bring to our borough. I’d encourage everyone to put the dates in your diary, and get involved!” 

AND Festival 2026 is hosted by Barnsley Museums and Barnsley Civic, developed in partnership with Barnsley Council, and part of a wider touring programme with partners Full of Noises, Mediale, Right Up Our Street, and Wigan Council. Supported using public funding through the National Lottery by Arts Council England.