Spring Season

As we step into 2026, we at Kakilang feel restless—in the best way. After welcoming you back for Seasons of Change in 2025, we’re ready to respond to a call to adventure. Change can be unsettling, but it’s also where something fresh, bold and exciting takes root.

This year, we journey outward—towards discovery, connection and artistic expression. Whenever I begin something new, I return to a Japanese proverb that brings me comfort:

千里の道も一歩から

Senri no michi mo ippo kara
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

That first step carries us into our 2026 Season. We’ll be pushing beyond our comfort zones, challenging ourselves as an organisation, and inviting you—our Kakilang—to grow with us.

Will you join us?

We kickstart our journey with Kakilang Connects at Chats Palace on Thursday 22 January 2026, bringing together organisations, artists and audiences. This edition centres ESEA community groups and organisations, creating space to share needs, challenges, resources and opportunities across our communities.

Our conversations don’t stop in London and we will not be boxed in by the M25! With Necessary Journeys, we continue our commitment to listening and learning from ESEA artists across the UK, heading to Sheffield and Newcastle next. Dates and locations to be announced.

As a queer artist myself, it is no secret how excited I am for our upcoming edition of TASTE  in Bristol at the Jam Jar on Wednesday 20 May. Through paid open calls, we’ll platform queer performers testing new scratch work, followed by space to connect, network and celebrate queer joy and talent in the South West.

Comedy returns this season too, following last year’s ESEA comedy night—this time spotlighting ESEA female-identifying comedians in celebration of International Women’s Day. Boss Ladies (Su Mi, Blank Peng and Ria Lina) - a fearless female comedy on Sunday 8th March at the Top Secret Comedy in Covent Garden.

Looking forward also means honouring the past. We’re delighted to announce In Search of Rice by Arati Kang Ting Ho, Sean Ting-Hsuan Wang and Victoria Yuan-Yi Ying as the recipient of the Shared Paths: Kakilang × Chinatown Collective Co-commission Award. Running throughout March, this guided participatory walk through London’s Chinatown explores migration, belonging, labour and transformation.

The season is rich with talks and workshops, led by experienced ESEA artists and practitioners. These are spaces to experiment, learn and expand your practice in supportive environments.

For the first time, Kakilang is branching into the world of literature with Truth, Fiction and New Worlds at Chats Palace on Friday 20 February, a writing workshop and book talk hosted by novelist Yin Lo. Meanwhile, Future Folk: Remixing Culture Through Digital Technologies takes place at Cecil Sharp House on Friday 6 February, bringing together choreographers, technologists, digital artists and academics and our commitment to artistic development continues through our Youth Music programme led by Emma Lee Moss at EartH Hackney on 17-18 February.

Wherever you’re based, and whatever your practice—tech, literature, music, comedy, history, performance, or something new—we invite you to join us on our journey into the future.

The first half of 2026 is only the beginning. With each step forward, we vow to continue growing, evolving and adapting, for you, our Kakilang.

Best wishes,