Leap Dance Festival 2025 programme and venues

Leap Dance Festival returns to Liverpool venues this spring with a programme of performances and workshops.

The 2025 festival runs from April 26 to May 9 and at venues including the Unity and Capstone theatres and Sefton Park Palm House.

This year, in partnership with Culture Liverpool and with support from DaDa and UK Shared Prosperity funding, Leap has commissioned eight artists and companies to produce new work for the festival - including a Freddie Mercury flashmob and a dance inspired by landfill-bound fast fashion.

The festival opens on April 26 with a Big Burlesque Cabaret at the Arts Bar in Hope Street, promising a ‘world of raucous entertainment’ including jazz dance.

On April 27, focus switches to Sefton Park Palm House where community groups from across the city region will perform. There will also be free dance workshops which people can take part in during the day.

Capstone Theatre hosts a Schools Dance Platform on April 29 – International Dance Day – celebrating young talent. This year’s event, titled On Broadway, focuses on musicals.

The Unity Theatre is the venue for a series of shows on May 3 under the title of Digital Moves and staged by Pei Yee Tong, Kudera + Mpearsonater and the Mudanza Collective and Amy Milson.

Above: The Afro Dance Academy is taking part in the 2025 festival. Top: Mudanza Collective

Dance schools and youth dance groups from the city region will perform in a Youth Dance Showcase at the Capstone on May 4, while on May 5 there will be Dancing in the Streets – literally – in Liverpool City Centre with a range of performances from the region’s leading dance artists. The event is sponsored by Liverpool BID and Liverpool ONE.

New dance works from artists from the African diaspora are being showcased at the Unity on May 9.

Leap Dance Festival is Liverpool City Region's leading dance event, showcasing the work of local artists, community groups and young people.

Following a five-year hiatus, Leap returned in 2024 with the festival seeing 781 performers take to theatres, museums, and the streets, showcasing dance to more than 37,000 people across Liverpool City Region and online.

The 2025 Leap Dance Festival runs from April 26 to May 9. More details and tickets HERE