The Big Thing, a landmark event for immersive artists in the UK, comes to Bradford

Immersive Arts will launch its first major event this June in Bradford, the UK’s City of Culture 2025, to bring together the country’s immersive arts community.

The Big Thing is a three-day event kicking off on the evening of Monday 9 June and will unite artists, producers, technologists, and researchers and the wider ecosystem of venues, distributors, curators and funders from the UK and beyond to explore the future of immersive arts.

With a focus on the arts and artists, as well as the tech, it’s part of a groundbreaking nationwide programme led by UWE Bristol called ‘Immersive Arts’ which is exploring art that uses technology to actively engage an audience.

The Big Thing is Immersive Arts’ inaugural annual gathering, where the immersive art community - at any stage in their journey - can come to connect, spark new ideas, and push the boundaries of their work.

The main programme runs on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 June and features inspiring talks, hands-on workshops, live performances, special announcements and opportunities for collaboration. With over 40 sessions across 13 venues in the city, as well as social events and performances, The Big Thing offers a platform to connect, learn, and evolve.

Principal Investigator and Director of Immersive Arts, Verity McIntosh, Associate Professor of Virtual and Extended Realities at UWE Bristol, said: “One of our goals for Immersive Arts is to build a more connected, inclusive, and accessible immersive arts community across the UK and The Big Thing has been created to do just that.

“This event is for everyone shaping the future of immersive art. Whether you are brand new or you’re an established artist, producer, or technologist, The Big Thing is for you.”

Highlights of the keynote speakers and panel sessions include:

Archival Reimaginings: Join researchers, artists and curators Tosin Olufon, Abira Hussein, Avinash Kumar, and Helen Starr, as they dive into how immersive tech is being used to remix cultural memory and breathe new life into archives.

New Level Unlocked - Reprogramming Reality Through Imagination: In this keynote, Karen Palmer - Storyteller from the Future and award-winning XR artist - invites attendees to unlock a new level of creativity, where imagination becomes infrastructure and storytelling becomes code. Drawing on her pioneering work in immersive storytelling, AI, and participatory futures, she explores how agency, imagination, emotional intelligence, and narrative sovereignty can unlock transformative possibilities.

Where are the Critics? Criticism can sting, but it’s how new ideas and inspiration spread. Where are the critics for immersive art, and how could popular coverage be improved? Hear the panel, chaired by Adrian Hon, discuss the criticism that already exists, and what it would take to support a more vibrant community of criticism that all artists could benefit from. 

Accessibility Fuelling Creativity: Chaired by Jo Verrent (Unlimited) this session will convene three artists (Nikki Watson, Sacha Wares theatre and Joseph Wilk), who regularly embed accessibility in their practice to reflect on how equitable design has benefitted them and their work creatively.

Hands-on workshops include Creative Microphone Listening, Blender AR Flow, and An Intro to Cynamic VFX in Unity. Workshops are being led by artists to introduce both how they think about the tool as well as the tool itself.

A series of performances will take place, including:

Ancestors by Smartphone Orchestra: Take a selfie and become the great, great grandparent of a human 200 years in the future. Ancestors is an interactive and immersive group experience that will profoundly connect the players and with future generations.

Robo Bingo by Foxdog Studios: Bingo meets tech. Join IT consultants, Lloyd and Pete in this interactive show for introverts. Expect robots, comedy and chaos. Play along on a charged phone (but in a fun way).

The Big Thing has been produced by Crossover Labs – its director Tom Millen, added: "The immersive artform is coming of age. There is an ever-expanding body of work coming from incredible artists who are harnessing technology to offer audiences agency in their work. However, the immersive artform in the UK still finds itself somewhat siloed by established mediums (film, contemporary art, theatre, dance, games). It lacks a dedicated focal point where artists can connect, inspire one another and evolve their practice in collaboration. The Big Thing is just that, an annual moment for immersive artists in the UK to converge, take stock and push the boundaries of immersive art together."

The Big Thing is part of the Immersive Arts programme and is delivered in partnership with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Bradford Producing Hub.

Tickets are available to buy on Eventive.

Funding for the Immersive Arts programme is provided through a collaboration between the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England (ACE), the Arts Council of Wales (ACW), Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI). Funding from Creative Scotland, ACW and ACNI is provided by The National Lottery.