PLAY: A new festival of interactive creativity for big and small screens

From Wednesday 29 July to Sunday 9 August, discover a brand-new interactive festival of creativity, dedicated to digital art and screen culture.

Showroom’s new festival for young people and families explores new forms of storytelling through gaming, interactive media, immersive technology and film. Running throughout the venue, PLAY offers a host of accessible events for family audiences this summer.

The dedicated ‘Playroom’ will feature free video games, crafts and pop-up activities in a relaxed and cosy space throughout the festival. Cinema screens play host to WiFi Wars (an interactive comedy gameshow) brilliant family films, talks and big screen gaming.

The festival also includes quality digital workshops and experiences, offering young people an introduction to VR, coding, audio and game design. And expect a host of films filled with creativity, from playful, lo-fi animation Maya, Give Me a Title, to live-action-roleplay (LARP) documentary We Can Be Heroes.

PLAY festival isn’t the only thing making summer cinema more accessible. As part of the government’s Great British Summer Savings campaign, Showroom Family Tickets for one parent and one child are now £13 until 1 September. Family Time and Toddler Kino tickets drop to £4.50 and £3.50 respectively, over the period.

Showroom’s first wave of PLAY events is on sale now, with more events to follow in July at:

http://showroomcinema.org.uk/festivals/PLAY2026

Highlights include:

• WiFi Wars (Wed 29 Jul @ 18.00) - The award-winning live comedy game show, where the entire audience competes. Games, quizzes and chaos abound. Hosted by comedian Steve McNeil. For ages 6+.

• Concerteenies: The Duck with No Luck (Mon 3 Aug @ 11.15) - The much-loved children’s book is brought to life with animation, live narration and performance from bassoonist Daria Phillips and pianist Annabelle Lawson. For ages 2-6.

• Extra Lives (Fri 31 Jul @ 18.00) - A live-scored audience RPG, where you vote to shape the watch-along video game, while the musician-nerds of Extra Lives perform your soundtrack in real time. For ages 8+.

Johnathan Ilott, Head of Programming at Showroom Cinema, said: “We can’t wait to bring more PLAY to Sheffield. Showroom has always championed young audiences and we’re proud to build on that, with a full festival for kids to experiment, create and lose themselves through stories told in ways they've never seen before.”

PLAY festival is made possible with the help of our funders Arts Council England, the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, and Sheffield Town’s Trust.