Our packed programme of walks, talks, exhibitions and performances at a glance…
Download a PDF version of the programme
Thursday 30th April 2026
19:30 PERFORMANCE: COLE STACEY – visceral and lyrical folk music from the heart of Dartmoor, Ashburton Arts Centre
Friday 1st May 2026
09:00 WALK: CELEBRATING BELTANE – celebrating “Bellever Day” with Dartmoor’s Daughter, Emma Cunis, Dunnabridge
09:30 WALK: LINES OF GRANITE – a drawing walk at Bench Tor with artist Kay Pearson, Venford
11:00 WALK: THE DEWERSTONE – FULLY BOOKED – being mindful whilst walking with Hannah Durdin and Helen Bruce, Cadover Bridge
15:30 TALK: A DARTMOOR CONVERSATION – 6000 years of people and places with photographer Chris Chapman and archaeologist Alan Endacott, Ashburton Arts Centre
17:00 EXHIBITION: I DREAMED ANOTHER’S DREAM… – PRIVATE VIEW – Field System presents the art of portals, labyrinths and mazes by Lally MacBeth, Matthew Shaw and Penny MacBeth, Field System Gallery
19:30 WALK: MOON & STONES – Walking at night listening to stories of Ghosts and Legends at Drizzlecombe with Paul Rendell
19:30 PERFORMANCE: MAY DAY REVELS – Field System presents a megalithic film with live soundtrack by STONE CLUB followed by dark folk music trio CRAVEN, Ashburton Arts Centre
Saturday 2nd May 2026
05:00 WALK: THE DAWN CHORUS ON DARTMOOR – listen to the music of the trees with sound artist and ornithologist Tony Whitehead, Newbridge
09:30 TALK: BEWITCHED BY DARTMOOR – Natural Magic and Modern Paganism, Rebecca Beattie in conversation with Sarah Ransome. Ashburton Arts Centre
10:00 WALK: DARTMOOR ELEMENTS – WALKING WITH WORDS, poetry and performance with MED Theatre along the banks of the Dart, Dartmeet
11:00 WALK: BLACK DOGS AND WISHT HOUNDS – Field System presents a walk around Hound Tor with storyteller Helen Bruce, Hound Tor
11:00 TALK: ART, PLACE AND THE ANCIENTS – Remaking the past – making contemporary megaliths with artist Robin Sullivan
12:15 WORKSHOP: WHEEL OF THE YEAR – THE FIRES OF BELTANE, learning about the Pagan calendar with Rebecca Beattie, Quaker Meeting House
12:30 TALK: TRACES OF OUR ANCESTORS – 12,000 years of Dartmoor archaeology with Dr Lee Bray, Ashburton Arts Centre
14:00 WALK: EDWARD BRAY’S DRUIDICAL STONES – Bardic Runes and Poetic Dedications with Dartmoor guide Simon Dell, Two Bridges
14:00 TALK: LOVE, LOSS AND LANDSCAPE -the wild and the ancient with writers Fiona Robertson and Sophie Pierce; chaired by Kirsteen McNish, Ashburton Arts Centre
15:30 PERFORMANCE: MUMMING & MORRIS – A celebration of Beltane with the Valiant Mummers, Grimspound Border and Newton Bushel Morris presented by Field System. Ashburton Arts Centre
17:30 TALK: TOR LORE & MORE MOOR TALES Field System presents Crowmancrow (AKA Ethan Pennell) with a brand new illustrated talk on the weird and wonderful folklore of Dartmoor’s tors. Field System Gallery
19:30 PERFORMANCE: GWENNO Celtic songstress Gwenno with her unique blend of Cornish, Welsh and English pop. Ashburton Arts Centre
Sunday 3rd May 2026
09:00 WORKSHOP: WILD INKS FROM DARTMOOR – make inks from nature with The Princetown Press, Tor Royal Workshop
09:30 TALK: BEAVERS, BOAR AND MORE – Getting Real about Rewilding with conservationist Derek Gow and writer Chantal Lyons, Ashburton Arts Centre
10:00 WALK: INTO THE CRUCIBLE – with artist Garry Fabian Miller and writer Fiona Williams, Dunstone Down
11:00 TALK: WORDS FROM THE WILD – poetry and place – conversations and readings with poets Jane Lovell and Mark Haworth Booth, Ashburton Arts Centre
11:00 PERFORMANCE: TOR TALES – storytelling with Sara Hurley, Ashburton Arts Centre Upper Studio.
12:30 TALK: NATURE RECOVERY ON DARTMOOR: IS IT TOO LATE? with experts Richard Drysdale, Tracy May, Lisa Schneidau. Chaired by Sophie Pavelle, Ashburton Arts Centre
13:00 WALK: THE ANCIENT SITES OF MERRIVALE & THEIR LANDSCAPE SETTINGS with shamans Peter Knight and Sue Wallace-Knight, Merrivale
14:00 TALK: LITURGIES OF THE WILD – RESHAPING OUR STORIES, mythologist Martin Shaw in conversation with writer Lucy Cooper, Ashburton Arts Centre
16:00 PERFORMANCE: GUDULA’S GATHERING – FULLY BOOKED – procession and dressing of the holy well of St Gudula in Ashburton, Ashburton Arts Centre
19:15 WALK: SUNSET AT SHOVELDOWN – ASTRONOMY AND ANCIENT STONES with archeoastronomer Carolyn Kennett and guide Paul Rendell, Batsworthy Corner
Monday 4th May 2026
04:15 WALK: DAWN & STONES – a Processional Walk to Drizzlecombe with archaeoastronomer Carolyn Kennett, Gutter Tor
09:30 WALK: SUMER IS ICUMEN IN: BELTANE AT RINGMOOR DOWN – a stroll through prehistory with archaeoastronomer Carolyn Kennett and Dartmoor guide Paul Rendell, Brisworthy Plantation
14:00 WALK: ENCHANTED LANDSCAPES: WISTMANS WOOD AND CROCKERN TOR – stories from the heart of the moor with Lisa Schneidau and Sara Hurley, led by Gillian Healey, Two Bridges
Thursday 7th May 2026
09:30 WALK: TALES OF THE TORS – stories of the Tors around Haytor, with guide Paul Rendell, Haytor
EXHIBITIONS – on over the festival
FIELD SYSTEM: I DREAMED ANOTHER’S DREAM – new work from Lally MacBeth, Matthew Shaw & Penny MacBeth exploring portals, labyrinths and mazes. Field System, 13 West Street, Ashburton, Devon, TQ13 7DT Finding
ASHBURTON ARTS CENTRE: STONE AGES – Artists Alex Murdin & Andrew Stacey share their conversations with the tors & ancient stones through drawing and paint. Ashburton Arts Centre, 15 West Street, Ashburton, Devon, TQ13 7DT
FIELD SYSTEM STUDIO: INTO THE DART – Mark Jessett opens his studio door to reveal new paintings and sketches made for and about the River Dart.
SHEREWOOD GALLERY – New prints, paintings and photographs of the landscapes of Dartmoor by Mark Burley at the Sherewood Gallery, 5a East St, Ashburton, TQ13 7AD Finding
SALTY’S STUDIO – Jim Salter shows off his quirky graphic take on Dartmoor and Devon in his inspiring screen-printing studio and gallery. 30 North St, Ashburton, TQ13 7QD Finding
JAM GALLERY – Michael Jones and Glen Middleham respond to Dartmoor as a wild, ancient and continually changing landscape, expressed through original collage works. 18 North St, Ashburton, TQ13 7QD Finding
ASHBURTON ARTISTS & ARTISANS – Ashburton Artists & Artisans (AAA) is a thriving collective of local artists and makers with a new shop in Ashburton. 32 North St Ashburton, TQ13 7QD
TICKETS
Click on the TICKET link on the event page. Some events are FREE but must be booked.
EVENT LOCATIONS & ACCESSIBILITY
Ashburton Arts Centre, 15 West Street, Ashburton, Devon, TQ13 7DT. Find out more about Finding, Parking & Access The main auditorium is wheelchair accessible. The Upper Studio is not wheelchair accessible and reached only by stairs.
Field System, 13 West Street, Ashburton, Devon, TQ13 7DT, is just 20 metres away from the Arts Centre. Find out more about Visiting, Maps and Opening Times. Field System is wheelchair accessible.
The Quaker Meeting House, Foales Court, off North St, Ashburton, TQ13 7QE. The meeting house is accessed along a pedestrian passageway called Foale’s Court which is next to Ashburton Delicatessen on North St in the centre of town. More information and maps. The Quaker House is wheelchair accessible.
The Princetown Press, 1 Tor Royal Workshops, Princetown, PL20 6SL. The studio is only open by appointment, get in touch before you make the trek and to enquire about accessibility arrangements. More information.
Featured photo by Alex Murdin