ExtantFuturism Festival – Announcement / Save The Date: March 10th – 12th 2027, Woolwich Works, London, UK

The ExtantFuturism Festival is a globally significant, never before experienced festival and historical moment that will create a rich, visually impaired crip spacetime event. In celebration of its 30th year and watershed transformation of structural leadership, Extant will curate and deliver the first ever visually impaired led performing arts festival for visually impaired audiences at Woolwich Works, London from the 10th – 12th March 2027.

Driven by tactile and auditory aesthetics, it features world and UK premieres of performances and installations, a state of the nation symposium on audio description and paradigm shifting wayfinding experiences. It fuses visually impaired heritage with novel creative access and technology, to explore & create new immersive realities.

Artistic Director and CEO Dr Maria Oshodi says: “I’ve waited 30 years for the ExtantFuturism Festival. It’s a celebratory and resistant act of EX/R – Extantion Rebellion. For too long visually impaired artists and audiences have come up against the hierarchy of access, we’ve huddled and whispered on the margins of the mainstream and other disability led spaces for years, where our access needs have been ignored or denied. But that stops here. I’m excited that Extant is blundering in and elbowing excuses out of the way. Thanks to Woolwich Works, we’re fine tuning a whole building access take over which will redefine the performing arts festival experience for visually impaired folks, access aesthetics and the future of Extant.”

Nick Williams, Director, Woolwich Works says: “I’m delighted to welcome Extant and host this groundbreaking takeover at Woolwich Works. I’m really looking forward to experiencing the distinctive aesthetic and auditory world of these brilliant performers, and seeing our spaces used in new, creative and accessible ways. The whole team here is excited to rise to the challenge as a venue, – building on our own inclusive practice and ensuring that Woolwich Works is as welcoming and accessible as possible to visually impaired artists and audiences alike.”

Extant brings ‘Blind Gain’ to the architecture of festival building. We have built successively on our lived experience for 30 years and have consistently introduced crip activisms and game changing industry interventions for the benefit of visually impaired artists and audiences. See our recent work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2025 and 2026.

The Extantification of a large-scale, multi day festival brings a cultural shift to the industry, and we’re committed to sharing our learning with partner festivals and international peers. Visually impaired performers and audiences will remember the ExtantFuturism Festival as a revolutionary point for performing arts festivals.

Full Programme Release – January 2027