Emergency 25
A day out for the curious.
→ artists · entry · access · about · credits Updated 28 August 2025, 12.45pm
Presented by Word of Warning + Contact
Manchester’s 25th micro-marathon of the bizarre, the bold, and the beautiful takes over Contact on Saturday 27 September from Noon to 10pm:
— with an Afternoon of installations, interventions, limited capacity works
— followed by an Evening full of short shows from 4pm
— including the return of special guests, Action Hero.
Get a feel for it with last year’s programme and gallery of images.
Artists
Action Hero · Alexis Maxwell · Burt Turdgirth & special guests · ClusterFlux Collective · Dongting Huang · Elana Binysh · Faye Yan · GOWD · Kellie Colbert & Deborah Newton · Kris Canavan · Leon Clowes · Lisa Ford · Luca Federici · Luke McDonnell · Madeleina Kay · Miss Freda Wallace · Mole Wetherell & UoS Performance · n:u (melissandre varin) · Nathan Birkinshaw · Rachael Gooch · Rory Aaron & Markus Hetheier · Rosie Hart & Poppy Waxman · The Paula Davy · Tom Cassani Participating artists subject to change.
Entry
Pay What You Decide: there’s no ticketing, just turn up & donate by cash/card.
Time: Saturday 27 September 2025 from Noon to 10pm (last entry at 9.30pm).
NB some artists will take breaks on an ad hoc basis, some works have a short duration, some have limited capacity on a first-come first-served basis, and some occur at the same time — so you will not be able to see everything.
Location: Contact, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA.
Access
Age Advisory: mainly 16+, some work will be suitable only for 18+ (aimed at adults, parent/guardian/carer discretion).
Content Warnings: some works involve interaction and/or participation; specific warnings will be listed here about a fortnight before.
Features: twenty-four Live Art & contemporary performance works with varied content. Multiple spaces on the ground/first/second floors are in use, and works are varied in format — some roaming, some seated, some standing, some spoken word, some visual, some participatory.
Queries: please contact Contact via boxoffice@contactmcr.com
About
Our annual platform for Live Art and contemporary performance, Emergency offers a sneak preview of new live work over a single day in Manchester every autumn — this 25th edition will present twenty-four works from lunchtime till late throughout Contact’s building and its multiple spaces.
Probably England’s longest-running Live Art event, Emergency aims to be:
— a free to access public micro-festival and open submission platform;
— an opportunity for artists to meet, show, and peer review work;
— a selection event for a number of small Works Ahead commissions.
First held at greenroom in 2000, Emergency also took place at International Anthony Burgess Foundation, BLANKSPACE, Castlefield Gallery, Z-arts & STUN Studio, NIAMOS, before finding a new home at Contact from 2020…
Get a feel for it with 2024’s programme and gallery of images; 2023’s programme and gallery; 2022’s programme and gallery.
Credits
Emergency 25 produced by hÅb; supported by Contact and using public funding by Arts Council England.