TAPOUT 25 is a two-week programme of extraordinarily diverse, innovative and timely performance work. From playful reinterpretations of sitcoms and empowering short films to immersive installations and thought-provoking durational pieces, TAPOUT 25 showcases a bold and eclectic range of new performances. Each work offers a distinct lens through which to explore this year’s central theme: Traces.

TAPOUT 25 invites audiences and artists alike to reflect on the lingering imprints left behind by our identities, actions, and experiences. These traces physical, emotional, or symbolic are woven into the spaces we inhabit and the relationships we form. They surface through movement, memory, material, and language, shaping our interactions in subtle yet powerful ways.

This year's festival asks: how do these traces form, where do they linger, and what do they reveal about who we are? It challenges us to consider how our pasts inform our present, how our bodies carry stories, and how the remnants of experience can hold power, beauty, and even conflict.

By focusing on the ephemeral and the enduring, TAPOUT 25 becomes more than a showcase of creative work it becomes a shared inquiry into the human condition. As you move through each piece, you are invited to notice what remains: what is left behind in a gesture, a sound, a texture? How do these traces guide how we move through the world and connect with others? The festival acts as a living archive, capturing fleeting moments that resonate long after they’ve passed.

The Poster background is a STRAVA heatmap of London that traces where runners have been.