Tender Exchange

Brighton Festival is bringing a project called Tender Exchange to the city this May, and it offers a slightly different way to spend a weekend afternoon. Created by the company Radical Ritual and led by artist Becca Gill, the piece is a form of participatory art that focuses on the idea of shared listening and connection. It is part of a wider national tour commissioned by several organisations, including Without Walls, Activate Performing Arts, and the festival itself.

The core of the experience is quite simple in its design. Participants are invited to whisper a hope, a truth, a memory, or a thought into a carved wooden heart. Once you pass this heart to someone else, it vibrates gently in their hands. As the object collects these different voices, its rhythm changes, signalling that it is ready to be returned and become part of a collective listening ritual. It is essentially an exercise in trust, asking people to share something personal with a stranger and, in turn, receive the thoughts of others.

If you are interested in checking it out, the event is taking place at Moulsecoomb Place on Saturday 16 May and Sunday 17 May 2026. The sessions run from 11:00 to 13:00 and again from 15:00 to 17:00 on both days. It is an open, free event, so there is no need to worry about tickets or booking in advance. It is designed to be accessible for families and anyone curious about outdoor, participatory art, regardless of whether you are a regular festival-goer or just looking for something quiet to do in the area.

This project is also travelling to other locations throughout the year, including the Norwich & Norfolk Festival, the Stockton International Riverside Festival, and the Freedom Festival in Hull, but for those of us in Brighton, the mid-May dates are the time to catch it. It is a straightforward concept that relies entirely on the willingness of those who show up to participate, making it a fairly unique addition to the festival programme this year.