XMTR AUDIO ARTS FESTIVAL FAQs
Travel
The closest train stations to the festival action are:
St Leonards Warrior Square station – for arrivals on Friday/Saturday/Sunday for the day, and departures on Friday evening
Hastings station – for departures on Saturday evening
West St Leonards station – for departures on Sunday evening (after closing events at Electro Studios)
Coming from:
London Charing Cross / Waterloo East / London Bridge (1h 20m – 1h 45m) regular direct trains run approx. every 30 mins, or from London Victoria (takes a bit longer, 2h) every 60mins.
Gatwick Airport: direct train (1.5h) / Heathrow Airport: 2-3 changes (~3h) / Stansted Airport: 2-3 changes (~3h 20m)
Brighton: direct train (~1h)
Useful app to book trains: Trainline
Car: There is free parking around St Leonard's and paid parking options are available, check out Parkopedia.
Accommodation
Many folk are staying at the Royal Victoria Hotel: Marina, St Leonards, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN38 0BD (11m walk from St Leonards Warrior Square station).
If you are a festival participant and have requested accommodation. this is where you will be staying.
We have also reached out to our wonderful local community and a number of people have offered to rent out spare rooms for less than hotel and AirB&B rates so if you would like to be matched up for a local homestay get in touch.
AirB&B - Can get pricey but there are also homestay rooms available and plenty of flats that can be shared between a few of you.
Bank Hotel - Very near everything on the seafront (prices go down in September)
White Rock Hotel - On the seafront and one of the festival venues (prices go down in September)
Travel Lodge - This is a 20min walk from the main area of the festival but they have some good deals
There are plenty of other options on booking.com
Registration
To register your arrival, come to the festival hub at Unit 2 to register and collect your wristband, map, programme etc.
During the opening hours:
Friday 11am-6pm
Saturday 9am-6pm
Sunday 9am-1pm
Unit 2, 8-10 London Rd, St Leonards, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN37 6AE (5m walk from St Leonards Warrior Square station).
They’ll also be a shop with audio goodies + artist merch Unit 2! (Payments accepted: UK cards, PayPal and cash).
Limited capacity workshops and sessions
REGISTER FOR SESSIONS HERE (festival pass holders only)
People with festival passes need to register for limited capacity events. If it says ‘no events in September’ then the session is booked out.
To join the waiting list, please send an email to festival(at)xmtr.fm
Please be aware that some events are happening at the same time, please don’t register places for overlapping events.
There are are also a number of events that are open to non festival holders:
Foley Nights Family Session
Hidden Frequencies Family Workshop
Sonic Communion - Live audio storytelling performances
These can be booked via the festival page.
What to bring
Comfortable shoes
Headphones / Buds
Clothing for every kind of British weather - literally from hot & sunny to raining & windy
Swimming gear if you fancy a dip (shingle beach – sea shoes are handy)
How to get involved ahead of the festival
To be part of a submersive safe + sound installation on the XMTR beach on Saturday 27th September, submit short audio works between 1 - 7 min long related to THE SEA / water / wetness / waves to safesoundshow (at) gmail (dot) com by 15/09/25.
Create a 3 minute audio fluxwork in response to the theme and prompts inspired by local artist, educator and knitter Lorna Hamilton-Brown.
Submit by 15/09/25 at audioflux.org
12 finalists will be selected and played in a live voting session at XMTR on Saturday 27th September. After further whittling down, 4 winners will debut at the Resonate Podcast Festival and receive ca$h prizes!
Georgia Walker + Nicola Mecca: COMPOST COMPOSED
Send sounds to compost (a voice message from a loved one, a speech, a scream) during a participatory compost installation on Friday 26th September exploring grief, rotting and transformation.
Send your sounds for composting by 15/09/25 to georgia (dot) walker (@) gmail (dot) com
Helen Zaltzman: AWARD YOURSELF AWARDS
Want to win an award at XMTR 2025 for an achievement you feel deserves a bit of praise, and it'll never get it anywhere else? From spreadsheets to jingles and everything in between, enter yourself for an award. The awards ceremony will take place on the evening of Saturday 27th September, as part of SONIC COMMUNION
Enter HERE
Access
The festival venues are spread across St Leonards-on-Sea, with some in Hastings and West St Leonards. There is a considerable amount of walking involved between the venues.
The following venues are accessible to wheelchair users / those with limited mobility:
Benbow Arts Space 2 London Rd, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN37 6AE
Dove Cafe 19 Bexhill Rd, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN38 0AH
Electro Studios Seaside Road, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN38 0AL
Henry Ward Hall (stair lifts provide access to the Hall on the first floor, please see their detailed accessibility guide) 45 Robertson St, Hastings TN34 1HL
Joyful Roots 4a Hatherley Rd, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN37 6LB
Royal Victoria Hotel Marina, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN38 0BD
Chillout Space
Quiet space options will always be availble during the festival.
One which is particularly quiet is Joyful Roots (4a Hatherley Rd, TN37 6LB), which will house the plant installation Botanismi on Friday 12-5pm and Sunday 12-4pm.
We are hosting a Gong Bath with local practitioner Karen Haylor on Sunday 28th at 9am, for a moment of calm.
And of course the seafront always provides the best calming space you can get!