Compass Festival

To mark the end of her Sounds Like Home: Listening Gardens project, Alisa Oleva has commissioned a collection of reflective texts, with contributions from Bill Dietz, Nele Möller and Compass’ own Jennie Gilman, and designed by Dasha Podoltseva. Listening Gardens was a continuation of a collaboration between Alisa and Dasha Zakharets, from Kamianske, Ukraine, and now based in Leeds. Over a month at Meanwood Valley Urban Farm, Alisa facilitated a connection with Kamianske via an outdoor listening station designed by Soundcamp, live streaming audio from a twinned location thousands of miles away. The sounds were live streaming from Dasha’s cherished family cottage – a place she hasn’t been since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The soundbox was taken care of in Ukraine by Dasha’s parents – Oksana and Ivan Zakharets. 🔗Read the texts via link in the bio!

🎉Exciting news! We’re thrilled to announce our Regional Creatives Fund grant from Amazon. This funding will enable Compass to deliver our Young Producers Scheme in 2026, opening up creative pathways for young people within arts & culture. Huge thanks to the judging panel, including the representatives from Amazon, The National Theatre, Creative Wales, Arts Council England, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Help Musicians Music Minds Matter. More information about the Compass Young Producers scheme will be available soon!

Sounds Like Home: Listening Gardens - In Conversation 🌿 This online conversation brings together various artists, thinkers and makers to reflect on the work of Sounds Like Home: Listening Gardens by Alisa Oleva and some of the themes it touches: commons, listening, livestreams, portals, distance, home, migration, gardens, infrastructures, and solidarites.  @alisaoleva invites friends and colleagues who she met at various moments on her artistic journey, including those directly connected to Sounds Like Home and some who got to know the project through her own descriptions. In conversation will be Grant Smith and Mort Drew from Soundcamp, Svitlana Dovbush, Lia Mazzari and Evgenia Tsianou, hosted by Alisa herself and Peter Reed from Compass.  Listening Gardens is a continuation of a collaboration between artist Alisa Oleva and Dasha Zakharets (@dat_very_daisy ) from Kamianske, Ukraine, now based in Leeds. The work was hosted over this summer at Meanwood Valley Urban Farm. You can learn more about the work over on the Compass website! 📆Thursday 28 August 🕥5-7 p.m UK time 💻Online  Image by @dashapodoltseva Tickettailor link in bio🔗

We’re presenting a special one day pop up of Ling Tan’s installation Leeds’ Low Carbon Chinatown for @chapel_fm ’s event Global Connections Open House. Reflecting on global food systems, watch a series of films made with people in Leeds showcasing low carbon adapted recipes for traditional Chinese dishes. 📌 Ling Tan: Low Carbon Chinatown one day pop up @ling.tan.ql 📆 Saturday 19 July, 1–5pm 📍 Chapel FM Arts Centre 🗺️ Old Seacroft Chapel, York Rd, Seacroft, Leeds LS14 6JB 🆓 Free, drop-in 🔗 More info on our website – link in bio 📸 Ling Tan, Leeds' Low Carbon Chinatown installation at Kirkgate Market for Compass 2024. Photo: Jules Lister

Help to shape the future of Compass Festival! 📢 Compass Live Art is seeking to expand its current Board of Trustees. We’re a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. 💛 We’re committed to Leeds and to making extraordinary art projects accessible and available to everyone. 🧭 Compass has grown steadily over the last 14 years and we want to expand the board to include some additional skills and perspectives. Find out more on our website – link in bio 🔗 📸 Etheridge & Persighetti (Small Acts) @smallactsliveart , Public House: The Yorkshire Square. Compass Festival 2021. Photo: Lizzie Coombes @bettylawless

Sounds Like Home: Listening Gardens by @alisaoleva Over a month at @meanwoodfarm , Alisa Oleva facilitates a connection with Kamianske, Ukraine via an outdoor listening station, live streaming audio from a twinned location thousands of miles away. 🔊 Listening Gardens is a continuation of a collaboration between Alisa Oleva and Dasha Zakharets, from Kamianske, Ukraine, and now based in Leeds @dat_very_daisy The soundbox is taken care of in Ukraine by Dasha’s parents – Oksana and Ivan Zakharets. Alisa invites you to listen to these sounds from faraway places, and asks: What places do we carry with us as we move countries and homes, especially if we are not sure when we can return? ℹ️ Launch Event, Saturday 12 July, 12–3pm 🆓 Free, drop-in Join us on Saturday 12 July, 12–3pm to celebrate the opening of this new installation, meet Alisa and Dasha and gather together for conversations on topics of home and connection to place, as well as some traditional Ukrainian food prepared by Leeds Ukrainian Community Association volunteers. 🌿 Sounds Like Home: Listening Gardens 📌 Meanwood Valley Urban Farm 📆 Saturday 12 July – Saturday 9 August 🕓 Open 7 days a week, 10am-4pm 🎟️ £3 entry to Meanwood Valley Urban Farm at reception Read more on our website – link in bio 🔗 In collaboration and with support from @sound_camp Image by @dashapodoltseva

⌛️ ONE WEEK TO GO! Our open call deadline is approaching. Apply now to be part of Compass Festival 2026. Happening in November 2026 in Leeds, we’re looking for original artistic projects which focus on or creatively engage with ideas around people, place & participation. In our 14-year history, we've seen the festival take place all over the city: in markets, on menus, on the water and in the street. 📆 Application deadline: Mon 30 Jun, 10am ℹ️ About us ℹ️ Compass commissions and presents interactive live art projects in Leeds, UK. We run an artist residency programme, present standalone projects, exhibitions and artist development initiatives. For more info and to apply visit our website – link in bio 🔗 📸 @melaniewhiteheadsmith , HERE MARKS THE SPOT, preview at Light Night. Photo: @juleslisterphotography

Be part of Compass Festival 2026! 📢 Our open call for our next festival is currently open. Happening in November 2026 in Leeds, we’re looking for original artistic projects which focus on or creatively engage with ideas around people, place & participation. In our 14-year history, we've seen the festival take place all over the city: in markets, on menus, on the water and in the street. 📝 We accept applications in three ways: written, video or audio recordings, or via a Zoom appointment. Full application guidance is on our website. 📆 Application deadline: Mon 30 Jun, 10am ℹ️ About us ℹ️ Compass commissions and presents interactive live art projects in Leeds, UK. We run an artist residency programme, present standalone projects, exhibitions and artist development initiatives. For more info and to apply visit our website – link in bio 🔗 Image: @ling.tan.ql , Low Carbon China Town Supper Club, Compass Festival 2024. Photo: @juleslisterphotography

🐻Could you create a funded art installation at the Bear Pit? 📣Applications are open for Compass Festival 2026. Artists and artist led projects are invited to submit ideas to animate the city with playful, provocative and boundary-pushing art which fulfils Compass’s mission of bringing strangers together to participate in artistic experiences in non-traditional art spaces. 🐾@CompassFestLDS are looking for original projects which focus on or creatively engage with ideas around People, Place & Participation. Compass Arts are interested in applications that respond to particular prompts, including the Headingley Bear Pit. 👉In March 2025, we opened the restored Headingley Bear Pit, a historic Victorian site on Cardigan Lane in Headingley and are working on ways the site can be used by different communities and organisations. 🎨Compass Arts are interested in projects which invite members of the public to experience this new cultural site, which already has been animated with a series of art projects such as Matthew Bellwood’s A Garden Through Time (2020). Applications are open that respond to sites other than those listed as promts, the promts are just themes or locations Compass Arts are keen to explore. 🚨Applications close at 10am on Monday 30 June 🔗 Read more and apply on the link in our bio. *** Image Description 📸Image 1: A photograph of the Headingley Bear Pit. On a green banner at the bottom is the white text 'Make art at the Bear Pit, Artist Call Out'. The Leeds Civic Trust logo and Compass Festival Logo are on the right hand side of the banner.

📢 Open call for projects: Compass Festival 2026 📢 Compass Festival is accepting applications for artist projects for the eighth edition of our biennial festival, happening in November 2026 in Leeds. In our 14-year history, we've seen the festival take place all over the city: in markets, on menus, on the water and in the street. We invite audiences to discover unexpected experiences in familiar places, bringing art to the everyday. 💡 For 2026, we’re looking for original projects which focus on or creatively engage with ideas around people, place & participation. 📆 Application deadline: Mon 30 Jun, 10am For more info and to apply visit our website – link in bio 🔗 Image: @lucyhayhoe , One in, One out: Leeds' Smallest Gay Bar, Compass Festival 2021. Photo: Lizzie Coombes @bettylawless

Artist Amy Lawrence's SHARING PLATTER created a nourishing space for learning and sharing, that prioritised sensation, memory and most importantly, pleasure and slowness in the winter months. Curated for women and non-binary people of colour, this day-long event centred relationships to food and identity. The menu included: 🍵 Herbalism and Tea Making with Matilya Njau 📝 Gut Cultivation: Gut meditation and journaling session with Amy Lawrence @_a_lawrence 🍽️ Trust Your Gut: Setting the table with Sonia Sandhu @hungry_sonia / @edible.archives 💭 Memory Capsule: Essential Oils with Mica Ray @essential.rays Thanks to all who joined us as part of Compass Festival 2024 💛 SHARING PLATTER is a long-term food and eating club – follow Amy on Instagram for news about future editions of this nomadic project: @_a_lawrence 📹 Beautiful film by Sophie Okonkwo

Watch our Compass Festival 2024 round up film! Our seventh edition unfolded from 1–30 November, bringing a whole month of interactive art across Leeds. We welcomed thousands of people over the month, presenting nine projects with 11 artists. On the street, in the market, on the menu – Compass Festival 2024 was staged across the city of Leeds, creating unexpected art encounters in familiar locations. 📹 Film by @juleslisterphotography 📸 With thanks to Lizzie Coombes @bettylawless for photography and Sophie Okonkwo for SHARING PLATTER footage -- Compass Festival 2024 was funded by Leeds City Council through the Leeds Cultural Investment Programme; Arts Council England; Leeds BID and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to the many other venues, partners and supporters who helped make Compass Festival 2024 happen! --