The S&DR200 festival will launch with All Change, a spectacular open-air event in Bishop Auckland, North East England, combining dazzling projections, drones and up to 100 live performers bringing history to life, on Saturday 29 March 2025. The nine-month S&DR200 international festival, running from March to November 2025 across County Durham and the Tees Valley, is inspired by the first journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the north east of England, which gave birth to the modern railway.

The festival offers something for everyone, with highlights throughout the year including a recreation of the first journey on the S&DR with a newly commissioned replica of Locomotion No. 1, free large-scale outdoor events, exhibitions focusing on the history of railways and bringing together paintings of national signifi cance, botanical and sensory installations, iconic locomotives, and newly commissioned artworks showcased in public spaces, libraries, and world-class museums.

Marking the official start of S&DR200, All Change is an unmissable show in Bishop Auckland at the home of Kynren. The event will speed through 200 years of railway history and major historical moments, from the Industrial Revolution, two World Wars to the present, celebrating the transformative power of trains on the landscape and our lives. Inspired by conversations with local historians, the spectacle will bring history to life with large-scale set pieces, projection mapping, original music and drones. The show will feature up to 100 performers from the local community, made up of the same team of dedicated local trained volunteers. All Change is created by award-winning performance company imitating the dog, whose piece Arrivals & Departures was part of the opening events for Hull's year as City of Culture, and Movement Directors Rocky Norton and Katie Pearson, who both contributed to the grand spectacles of all four ceremonies at the Summer Olympics in London 2012. All Change will feature a fleet of 400 drones from world-renowned SKYMAGIC, promising a breathtaking visual experience set against the night sky. As pioneers behind the stunning drone and light displays at iconic events like the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, Coachella, and London's New Year's celebrations, SKYMAGIC will choreograph an aerial ensemble that weaves into the performance below. The 25-minute show, which will take place for one night only, is suitable for all ages.
Festival Director, Niccy Hallifax, says: “It must have been magical 200 years ago to witness the fi rst journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway. With All Change, we aim to recapture that sense of wonder, bringing people together from all corners of the region and further afi eld for an awe-inspiring event. I hope we can create an unforgettable memory for people of all ages, offering them an exciting glimpse of the region's fascinating heritage while sparking further creativity and ideas over the years that follow. The artists we have brought together for this one-off show really are the best in their fi elds.”

imitating the dog Director, Simon Wainwright, says: “We've been so inspired by the incredible story of Locomotion No. 1 and the changes it brought about, from that fi rst short journey to the massive impact it had across the world. Our performance for the opening event explores how train travel opened up the possibilities for ordinary people to travel and to witness world events. All Change will take audiences on a journey, a whistlestop tour through 200 years of history, and will be told through a combination of our trademark storytelling techniques of digital projection, live performance and a newly composed soundscape. We are thrilled to be working with Rocky and Katie P, the team at 11Arches and SKYMAGIC to bring all of this together.”
On their involvement in the project, SKYMAGIC Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Patrick O'Mahony, says: “SKYMAGIC are delighted to bring our world-famous drone light show to S&DR200. As a global company with an office in the North, we're always proud to support and work with cultural celebrations that champion achievements close to home. It will be a pleasure collaborating with incredible local talent in order to bring our aerial storytelling to the festival's opening event.” 

27 September 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The 26-mile journey on the S&DR between Shildon and Stockton via Darlington on 27 September 1825 transformed how the world traded, travelled, and communicated. The S&DR200 festival will celebrate the region's pioneering past and look forward to its future with a series of large-scale outdoor events, exhibitions and new art commissions in its public spaces, libraries, and world-class museums, including Preston Park Museum & Grounds, Locomotion, Hopetown and The Story. The first of these exhibitions will be Railway Pioneers at Hopetown in April.

Today, S&DR200 is also announcing some new festival highlights across the year at the venues listed above, as well as many others. Please find the latest programme listings online: www.sdr200.co.uk

S&DR200 is being funded by Darlington Borough Council, Durham County Council and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. Other major funders include Arts Council England, Tees Valley Combined Authority, The National Heritage Lottery Fund.
Other sponsors are LNER.

ENDS -

Press information:
Will McCrossan | SDR200@fl int-culture.com | +44 (0)7960 081 419
Tabitha Ives | SDR200@fl int-culture.com | + 44 (0)7821 954 228 S&DR200 festival contact:
Cara Pringle | Cara.Pringle@stockton.gov.uk | +44 (0)7595 833 636

Listings information:
All Change
29 March 2025
Doors open 4:30pm, pre show starts at 6.30pm, show 7pm
Flatts Farm, Bishop Auckland, DL14 7SF
Suitable for all ages
Tickets cost £5 per person and £5 park and ride per car
Available to purchase at www.sdr200.co.uk/all-change-opening-event from Monday 10th February 2025.

NOTES TO EDITORS
S&DR200 is funded by Darlington Borough Council, Durham County Council and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.
About imitating the dog: imitating the dog have been making ground-breaking work for theatres and other spaces for 25 years. Their work, which fuses live performance with projection technologies, has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people in theatres, outdoor festivals, and events across the world.
Past theatre productions have included Hotel Methuselah, A Farewell to Arms, Heart of Darkness, Night of The Living Dead ™ - Remix, Dracula: The Untold Story, Macbeth, and Frankenstein. Their latest theatre production, All Blood Runs Red, opens at Leeds Playhouse in February this year.
In 2022, the company staged Cinema Inferno, a groundbreaking presentation of John Galliano's haute couture show as part of Paris Fashion Week. Recent installation work includes Ribble of Dreams for Lancashire Encounter, Another Leap at Light Up Lancaster and Christmas at Castle Howard. For 2025, imitating the dog's work will feature in the Otherham Winter Festival in Rotherham in January and the launch of the S&DR200 festival in March.
About Rocky Norton and Katie Pearson: Movement Directors Rocky Norton and Katie Pearson's professional paths fi rst crossed during the Summer Olympics in London 2012, where they both contributed their extensive expertise to the grand spectacles of all four ceremonies. Each brings a wealth of experience from the worlds of live events, dance, theatre, opera and camera, with a shared passion for creating immersive, large-scale performances around the world. Specialising in mass cast movement and the choreography of these often complex spectacles, both Rocky and Katie are renowned for their ability to coach and direct volunteer performers, transforming everyday individuals into dynamic ensembles that bring creative visions to life on stage. Their unique skill set in large-scale performance creation made them natural collaborators when they joined forces with the 11Arches team on Kynren. In the early days, they were instrumental in helping guide and train the volunteers who would go on to become the integral essence of the show's iconic performances. Since then, they have had the distinct privilege of staying on with Kynren and supporting its development over the past decade both behind the scenes and on the front lines. Working with the incredible team of volunteers and staff who make the magic happen year after year.
About SKYMAGIC: SKYMAGIC is the world's leading drone light show company, with a core presence across Europe, the Middle East, USA and Asia. They are an award-winning team of creatives, technologists and storytellers. Harnessing the abilities of drone light technology, they conjure stories in the sky, moving and entertaining audiences across the globe. They work globally and have delivered shows in over 25 different territories around the world since launching in 2015. UK audiences may recognise their work at events including London's New Year's Eve celebrations, Wilderness Festival, BBC Studios' D-Day 80 Tribute to the Fallen, and The King's Coronation.