Royal Dock Originals
Royal Docks Originals returns for 2027
Royal Docks Originals will return for its second edition in Autumn 2027. The free biennial festival presents world-class arts, spectacular installations, and original performances created in London’s Royal Docks.
The Royal Docks’ flagship cultural festival brings together artists, communities, schools, businesses and cultural organisations to create ambitious new work inspired by one of London’s most diverse and fast-changing places. Developed by and with the people of the Royal Docks, it celebrates original stories, talent and ideas while showcasing the area’s growing role as London’s Cultural Engine.
Read on to find out more about open calls, live opportunities and other ways to get involved
A festival shaped by the Royal Docks
Following a successful debut in 2025, Royal Docks Originals returns for its second edition with an expanded programme of commissions, community projects and opportunities for local people to take part.
Built around the festival's "Movement and Moment" approach, Royal Docks Originals is more than a just a festival. The journey starts a year ahead through creative residencies, skills development, school projects, open call-outs and community participation programmes, culminating in a month-long celebration across the Royal Docks waterfront in autumn 2027.
The 2027 programme will explore the histories, identities and possible futures of the Royal Docks, responding to the area's evolving landscape, growing cultural offer and changing waterfront. From major new destinations and waterside experiences to emerging food and hospitality venues, the festival will create opportunities for people to connect with the places, stories and communities that are shaping the future of the Royal Docks.
An important moment for London in 2027 will be the installation of The Wake by Khaleb Brooks, London's new memorial to the victims of transatlantic slavery in nearby Canary Wharf. Alongside marking the installation of this important memorial and its links to Royal Docks’ own history, Royal Docks Originals will provide opportunities for artists, residents and audiences to reflect on this changing district, its heritage, themes of memory, identity and belonging.
Forhad Hussain, Mayor of Newham, said:
"Royal Docks Originals is about creating opportunities, bringing world-class arts and culture to Newham while investing in local people, local artists and future talent. Through partnerships with organisations such as English National Ballet, we are putting local people at the centre of creating something ambitious, inspiring and uniquely Newham."
Major commission in partnership with English National Ballet
At the heart of Royal Docks Originals 2027 will be a landmark outdoor dance commission co-produced with English National Ballet.
Set across the iconic land and waterscape of Royal Victoria Dock, the large-scale promenade performance will bring together dancers from English National Ballet with more than 500 local community and professional performers. Led by internationally acclaimed artistic director Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE, the project will blend ballet, hip-hop, contemporary dance and other styles in a celebration of local stories, shared histories and contemporary identities.
The commission will be created with local communities through a year-long programme of workshops, rehearsals and participation opportunities, involving schools, dance groups and community organisations from across Newham and the Royal Docks.
Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, said:
"This brilliant collaboration between Royal Docks Team and English National Ballet is not to be missed when the Royal Docks Originals biennial festival returns next year. It's free to attend and will help bring communities together, open up access to the arts and celebrate local culture and diversity, as we continue to build a better London for everyone."
Anu Giri, Executive Director of English National Ballet, said:
"We're thrilled to be creating this landmark production in partnership with Royal Docks Team in our local borough of Newham. This ambitious new work will see hundreds of people come together to reflect on the area's history and look forward to a hopeful future."
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE, Project Artistic Director, said:
"I am thrilled to be working with English National Ballet and the Royal Docks team as Artistic Director for this major movement project. Having begun my career in Newham over 30 years ago, it feels particularly special to return for a project of this scale. Bringing communities together to create what I hope will be an unforgettable experience makes it all the more exciting.”
Ways to get involved
Alongside the flagship commission, Royal Docks Originals 2027 will support a wide range of creative activity across the area.
Current opportunities: apply now
- Royal Docks Originals Engineers: resident artists programme
Ready to take your creative practice to the next level? Royal Docks Originals will support up to three local creative practitioners to develop ambitious new work, build partnerships and create lasting impact in the Royal Docks.
The programme includes a £35,000 grant, producer support, community engagement opportunities and presentation at Royal Docks Originals Festival 2027. Apply now
- We Are Original: Royal Docks Originals 2027 Creative Commissions
Royal Docks Originals 2027 supports local artists, creative workspaces, businesses and communities that make the Royal Docks London's Cultural Engine.
The programme offers three funding strands:
- Original Places: Partnerships between local creatives and local businesses or venues.
- Original Workspaces: Collaborative projects within one of the Royal Docks' creative workspaces.
- Original Work: Open funding for Royal Docks artists and creative practitioners.
Together, these commissions invest in and strengthen the Royal Docks' creative ecology. Apply now
Future opportunities: register your interest
- New public artwork for Silvertown Way underpass
Help shape what a new artwork could look like, involve and represent between Caxton St North and Peto St North. - Schools programme
Help shape and take part in Royal Docks Originals 2027 through a programme of creative projects and learning opportunities that connect young people with the area's history, heritage and future. - Return of The Docks Factor
Following the success of The Docks Factor 2025, we’re delighted to announce that the local talent competition will return in 2027! - Creative Careers Day
Aged 18 – 30? Kickstart your creative career in the Royal Docks.
Help shape the festival: join a network
- Join the partner group
Are you a local organisation based in or working with the Royal Docks? We are inviting local businesses, developers and venues to join our Partner Group and help shape one of east London's most ambitious cultural festivals. - Creative Connectors: Connect the Docks
Join Creative Connectors and help shape a Royal Docks Originals project connecting communities across Royal Docks. Open to anyone who lives, works or studies in the Docks. - Calling young people: Royal Victoria needs you
We are looking for young people aged 16 - 25, who would like to collaborate with others and are interested in the future of Royal Victoria. The project will welcome your questions, curiosity and all experience
Details of individual opportunities and commissions will be announced throughout 2026 and 2027.
About Royal Docks Originals
Royal Docks Originals is the Royal Docks' flagship biennial cultural festival and a key part of the area's ambition to become London's Cultural Engine: a place where culture, creativity and innovation drive inclusive growth and opportunity.
Built on four principles, the festival champions original work made here, creates meaningful opportunities for community participation, responds to the unique landscape and heritage of the Royal Docks, and supports a year-round movement of creative development rather than a single cultural moment.
The inaugural festival in 2025 featured more than 50 original projects, involved 163 local creatives and attracted over 20,000 visitors. Highlights included Compagnie Carabosse/Royal Docks Communities' Rekindling, major public artworks including Chila Kumari Singh Burman's Royal Reflections and Sweet Hope, Graphic Rewilding's Blue Sunset, Luke Gray's Threads of Arrival, and the development of Joy Yamusangie's The Fish and The Mermaid.
Building on that success, Royal Docks Originals 2027 will once again transform the waterfront with ambitious new commissions, community-led creativity and cultural experiences that celebrate the people, places and stories that make the Royal Docks unlike anywhere else in London.
