Spine Festival 2026

MAGIC & IMAGINATION: 16 May – 30 June 2026. 

Launching on 16 May, SPINE Festival 2026 continues the exploration of Magic & Imagination with children and families in fourteen London boroughs. This year features spoken word and arts activities delivered by local artists, touring poetry SPIN show, a series of engaging workshops and imaginative events by SPINE’s 14 Artists in Residence.

This year will also see the festival’s ‘Magic & Imagination Poetry Competition’ judged by SPINE 2026 Ambassador Simon Mole in each partnering borough.

The full programme will be announced in May 2026.

The following boroughs will be participating this year:
Brent ● Bromley ● Greenwich ● Hammersmith and Fulham ● Harrow ●  Camden ● Kensington and Chelsea ● Lewisham ● Merton ● Newham ● Sutton ● Tower Hamlets ● Wandsworth ● Westminster

Each year, SPINE Festival also offers a host of activities specifically for local school and community groups.

Libraries are creative spaces at the heart of London communities. They are free and open to all, and a great way to engage with and experience art and culture.

Previous SPINE Festival editions (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020) can be discovered here.

GET INVOLVED

We are currently recruiting for this year’s Artists in Residence. If you’d like to be part of and contribute to SPINE’s joyous programme, then please do check out our vacancy page with full details on how to apply.

Deadline is Monday 6 April 2026, 23:59 GMT.

SPINE Archive – Previous SPINE Festivals

This isn’t the first year we have run SPINE, but it is different every time we run it! Each year, the content that has been made, and the people that we have worked with have been incredible. If you’re not sure what to expect from SPINE, please review the archive to familiarise yourself.

We have collated this content in an archive for you to explore. This page includes the programming, the libraries that took part, the artwork created, and all the artists in residence.

A huge part of this festival is all the libraries that take part. All the staff are incredibly important to making this festival come together and, of course, everyone who attends as a participant. You can read more in the impact of SPINE and all the wonderful things people have got up to in this blog post from Sarah Smith (MBE) at Brent Libraries.

Find out more about previous SPINE festivals by clicking the button below:

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SPINE is produced by Apples and Snakes in partnership with Brent Library. In previous years, it has been supported by John Lyon’s Charity and  Arts Council England. We also would like to thank library authorities across London.

All photography credit of the artists in residence: Suzi Corker (suzicorker.com)