XMTR AUDIO ARTS FESTIVAL FAQs

Ticket Types

These are the main ticket types available for the festival:

  1. Weekend Pass: All inclusive pass to all events at the festival on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September 2026. Some workshops and events have limited access and will require registration on a first come first come first serve basis. You will receive an email to book these events after booking your pass.

  2. Day Passes: Available for all day access on either Saturday or Sunday. Same applies about registration for limited capacity events as above.

  3. Friday Audio Cabaret: Friday 26th September, 7pm
    This is the opening night of the festival and has limited capacity. We advise booking this alongside your festival pass to experience the full festival programme.

  4. Dungeness Field Trip: Monday 28th September, 10am-4pm
    Join sound artist and musician, Isobel Anderson, on an unconventional tour of some of the most iconic locations across Dungeness and Romney Marsh. We'll head out from Hastings on a specially chartered mini bus and stop at sites including Derek Jarman's Cottage, Dungeness nuclear power station, The Denge Sound Mirrors and St Thomas-A-Becket Church. We'll be hunting for vibes as much as facts as we feel into the inherent liminality of this sparse landscape. A post-festival adventure not to be missed. The cost will be calculated once we have a clear idea of numbers.
    Confirm interest HERE


XMTR PULSE
During the day on Friday we are holding an audio arts symposium called XMTR PULSE. A day dedicated to: what’s next for creative audio?
With less traditional opportunities and an exciting surge of independent initiatives, we will take time to connect, unpack, inspire and conspire with like-minded audio folk from the UK and overseas. Friday 25th September 11.30am-5.30pm

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. The station is a short walk to all the main festival spaces.

    Hastings station – for anyone staying in Hastings. Some events are closer to Hastings station but the majority of the festival is nearer to St Leonards Warrior Square station.

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 60 mins.
Gatwick Airport: direct train (1.5h) / Heathrow Airport: 2-3 changes (~3h) / Stansted Airport: 2-3 changes (~3h 20m)
Brighton: direct train (~1h)

If you are travelling by Air - the easiest airport is Gatwick Airport with regular direct trains to St Leonards Warrior Square.

Useful app to book trains: Trainline

Car: There is free parking around St Leonard's and paid parking options are available. Most hotels have free parking options.

Ferry: The closest Ferry Port is Newhaven, with daily ferries arriving from Dieppe (France). This is then a 1.5h train journey to St Leonards Warrior Square - changing at Lewes, or a 50 min drive.

Accommodation

The main festival hotel is Royal Victoria Hotel: Marina, St Leonards, Saint Leonards-on-Sea TN38 0BD (11m walk from St Leonards Warrior Square station and walking distance to all the festival events).
If you are a festival participant and have requested accommodation, this is where you will be staying.

We have reached out to our wonderful local community and a number of people have offered to rent out spare rooms for less than hotel and Airbnb rates.
If you would like to be matched up for a local homestay, express your interest and we will endeavour to match you with a local home: HOME STAY

Airbnb - Can get pricey but there are 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).

Travelodge - 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 Afri-Co-Lab to register and collect your wristband,
map, programme etc.

During the opening hours: 

  • Friday 1.30pm-6pm

  • Saturday 9am-6pm

  • Sunday 9am-4pm

AFRI-CO-LAB 3 Marine Court, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN38 0DXE (12m walk from St Leonards Warrior Square station).

They’ll also be a shop with audio goodies + artist merch. (Payments accepted: Bank Cards)

In the HUB you will also find a community notice board from SoundCraft, A Library Out of Air -
Eleanor McDowall and Kalli Anderson, Dinahbird’s Invisible Hands Exhibition as well as a hang-out and editing
space for the Sonic Relay.

Venue Map HERE

Limited capacity workshops and sessions

People with festival passes need to register for limited capacity events. If the event listing says ‘limited capacity’ you can book via the BOOK button.
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 pass-holders but these need to be booked:

Habitual Rituals: Take Flight - Field Recording + Bird Watching at Hastings Castle - Stellaria Media

The Sound Sauna - Hayley Clarke - Sauna and sounds at Samphire Sauna

Sonic Questing - Will Gore + Friends - Suitable for young people aged 8-12 at Benbow Arts Space

Foley Follies: Youth Workshop - Suitable for young people aged 11-19 at Benbow Arts Space

the space between our years - nexus asanté + Sean Clarke - Suitable for young people aged 15 -24 at Badger -Source Park

Sonic Communion - Live audio storytelling performances at HIS Place (Henry Ward Hall)

These can be booked via the links above.

Access

The festival venues are spread across St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings. There is a considerable amount of walking involved between the venues.
Everything is within walking distance and the programme is curated to make the most of the beach promenade and spaces located in the centre of St Leonards-on-Sea and the ‘America Ground’ area of Hastings. If you are unable to walk between venues we can organise transportation.

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

Multi Faith Prayer Room
Add your voice to a time capsule of hope and dreams transformed into a polyphony of recorded messages for the future. Here’s the invitation

AWAs - Award Yourself Awards
Want to win an award for an achievement you feel deserves a bit of praise, and it'll never get it anywhere else?
Enter the 2026 Award Yourself Awards HERE

SONIC RELAY
Produce 30-60 second micro-documentaries capture small moments of everyday life: a conversation overheard at a bus stop, a classified ad, a local character, a family ritual, a fragment of history, a joke, a memory, a sound that reveals something about a place.
Audio Producer Suzi McCarthy, will be helping XMTR Festival participants to record and collect our SONICS from St Leonards-on-Sea.These will be featured at our closing ceremony CODA, as part of an improvised sound piece. There will be prizes for the most engaging audio!
Bring your recording gear and capture the sounds of the seaside and the festival!