Events

Important info for visitors

Please bring cash! The signal for card payments is annoyingly intermittent.
If you could be perceived as under 25 even if you’re not, please bring proof of age to purchase alcoholic drinks. ID must be either a passport, driving licence or PASS card.
The barge is still under construction – apologies – at this time there is no wheelchair access to performance space. Restricted viewing from the upper deck is possible in good weather. We are working towards making the barge a fully accessible community space and look forward to welcoming all aboard in the not too distant future.

York Jazz Festival

1st – 4th Oct 2026

FOUR DAYS. SIX VENUES. ONE CITY. York Jazz Fest Thu 1 – Sun 4 October 2026 York Jazz Fest is a welcoming new festival celebrating jazz in all its forms — bringing together classic sounds, contemporary energy, great venues and live music lovers across York. Jazz is not one sound, one age, one room or […]

YJF: Alligator Gumbo

1st Oct 2026

Alligator Gumbo: Leeds-based seven-piece bring the sound of New Orleans jazz and Dixieland brass to The Arts Barge! Playing jazz from the hey-day of the New Orleans swing era when music was raw and largely improvised, melodies and solos happening all at once. Over ten years together and firm favourites on the British jazz scene, […]

YJF: Alina Bzhezhinska - Whispers of Rain

2nd Oct 2026

Performing alone, Bzhezhinska builds expansive, layered soundscapes in real time using loop pedals and a sampler, moving between spiritual jazz, ambient atmospheres and free improvisation — intimate and cinematic at once. Creator of HipHarpCollective, winners of the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Ensemble 2024, she has worked with Brian Jackson, Chaka Khan, Shabaka Hutchings and […]

YJF: Emma Foulds

3rd Oct 2026

A saxophonist originally from Tadcaster, now based in London and studying at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Her music takes inspiration from Django Bates, Joe Lovano and Linda May Han Oh. Having debuted her quintet in May 2026, she has been writing new material that highlights the tenor sax and vocal front line, […]

YJF: The Olivia Cuttill Quintet

3rd Oct 2026

Trumpeter, composer and lyricist Olivia Cuttill leads her quintet — Issey Chivers on vocals, Tom Harris on piano, Josh Vadiveloo on bass and Miles Pillinger on drums. A Leeds Conservatoire graduate and winner of the 2024 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award, she draws on New Orleans and the Great American Songbook, with storytelling songs, swinging solos […]