Connecting Threads
Connecting Threads: Tweed River Culture is a creative placemaking project focusing on the River Tweed as a source of inspiration, culture and connectedness.
Connecting Threads brings together creative practitioners with conservationists, environmentalists, scientists, river specialists and communities of place and purpose, to celebrate the River Tweed through a five-year programme of cultural activity.
Connecting Threads is led by the Southern Uplands Partnership.
Managed by Southern Uplands Partnership, Connecting Threads is a catchment project that celebrates ‘river culture’ – the relationship we have with the river through the routines, rituals, traditions, beliefs, stories, music, industries and land management practices which connect us to it.
Working collaboratively with local groups, conservation and environmental organisations and the wider creative community, Connecting Threads programmes activities across a range of sizes, scales, durations, artistic contents and ambitions. These activities include hands-on creative workshops, river celebrations, artist residencies, concerts, exhibitions and more. Through this multi-faceted, response and inclusive approach to programming, Connecting Threads invite communities and visitors to make deeper connections to the river environment and to each other.
The Tweed River Festival
2025 marked a milestone for the Connecting Threads project as they hosted their inaugural Tweed River Festival.
The festival invited creative minds and local communities to come together for three inspiring days of activities exploring the river and its Watery Commons, the theme of this year’s programme.
Across the weekend, participants were encouraged to engage deeply with the river and experience original works by talented artists through song, photography, printmaking, poetry, wild swimming, guided walks, and creative conversations.
It was a celebration of creativity, connection, and the landscapes that shape us along the River Tweed.
The festival was a resounding success, with incredible participation across all three days. Our River Animateurs shared their favourite and most impactful moments, highlighting the creativity and conversations that made this event so special.
Kerry Jones 🗣️ “My favourite moment was as we opened up the festival, welcoming people to join the commons and straight away having conversations about the River Tweed and what it means for each of us.”
Tiki Muir 🗣️ “One of the highlights for me was bringing together so many creative, inspiring people to celebrate our Watery Commons programme. Through their work, I saw, felt and understood our relationships to the river, and to one another, anew.”
Rhiana Laws 🗣️ “On the final day, gathered in a circle on the riverbank to return the water we had collected from the Tweed in jars, I was struck by how many people had showed up for the River Tweed and how powerful it felt to stand together with a common interest: looking after the river.”
Save the date!
Tweed River Festival 2026
Melrose, 30 – 31 October
The second Tweed River Festival will take place this Autumn, featuring an array of art and activities in, on and alongside the river. A gathering of river-loving communities, the 2026 festival will involve this year’s cohort of artists in residence and other creatives through an inspiring mix of river-focused activities, including riverside walks and artist-led workshops, film screenings, music and more.
Connecting Threads recently launched a new website to enable people to engage with their programming in different ways. The website includes critical essays exploring creative themes in more detail, artist profiles, creative conversations and a growing project archive.
Check out a snapshot of their latest events and news stories below.
Events
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As part of Connecting Threads river-wide creative project Being a River, there is the opportunity to attend a series of ...
Catchment Area: Lower Tweed,
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Join Gateshead-based artist Kate Liston for a creative writing workshop inviting you to participate in individual and collective writing experiments responding to ...
Catchment Area: Lower Tweed,
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Join Gateshead-based artist Kate Liston for a creative writing workshop inviting you to participate in individual and collective writing experiments responding to ...
Catchment Area: Lower Tweed,
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As part of Connecting Threads river-wide creative project Being a River, a series of five creative workshops will be held ...
Catchment Area: Upper Tweed,
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Following the success of its inaugural event in 2025, the Newstead Sundials Festival returns on Sunday 6 September 2026, promising ...
Catchment Area: Middle Tweed,
Visit the Connecting Threads website for more information.
tweedriverculture.org