WELCOME TO BEST FOOT FORWARD 2022.

A TWO MONTH-LONG FESTIVAL THAT CELEBRATED ARTS WITH, BY AND FOR PEOPLE WITH A LEARNING DISABILITY OR WHO ARE AUTISTIC. 

From face-to-face group workshops right up to national conversations, this hybrid festival allowed people to access culture, dance and art in a safe accessible way, appropriate to their own circumstances.

Emerging from the pandemic with new skills and insights and an acute recognition that disabled people have been hit hard by COVID, the TIN team expanded their already established Best Foot Forward event into a month-long festival that provided some much-needed opportunities for people with disabilities to take part in cultural activity. 

Since 2000, Best Foot Forward has been TIN Arts’ annual performance showcase in Durham featuring work created and performed by artists with a learning disability or who are autistic. All artists involved attend and participate in regular training throughout the year at our space in Durham City.

As well as being a celebration of the depth of local talent in County Durham, the festival aimed to raise the profile of arts with, by and for people with a learning disability.  The festival also worked as an advocate for greater opportunities for people with a learning disability to be able to participate in arts and culture locally, regionally and nationally.

This year’s festival was co-produced and co-delivered by the TIN Arts Community Champions’ team, a new cohort of TIN Arts’ team members with a learning disability who have been instrumental in helping form much of the exciting ideas on offer and were at the forefront of much of the delivery of the festival.

Throughout March and April, the festival included:

  • Participatory workshops in community settings across County Durham
  • A dedicated interactive online channel of ‘join in’ content 
  • Online national conversations exploring arts and inclusion
  • The premiere of a new made-for-screen dance / theatre production by artists with a learning disability or who are autistic

Click the buttons below to explore the Festival!

Best Foot Forward 2022 was supported by: