Threshold Festival announces return for one final reunion

Threshold Festival is returning to Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle for one final reunion marking 15 years since the festival first began in 2011.

The event taking place at District and Hobo Kiosk is being framed by organisers as a closing chapter – a one-off gathering celebrating the artists, volunteers, audiences, venues and communities that helped shape one of Liverpool’s most influential grassroots cultural movements.

Chris Herstad-Carney, Festival Co-Founder said:

“We never planned to bring Threshold back, but fifteen years on from that first wild experiment in a seven storey arts centre, we realised there was one more thing we wanted to do: say thank you and have that ‘cast and crew’ afterparty the pandemic stole from us. Threshold was about what happened when you filled a room with people who cared – about art, about music, about each other.”

The line-up will be revealed very soon, but expect a roster of multi-arts Threshold alumni artists mixed with some new performers, spreading across the two venues closing up with a party going on until late.

Kaya Herstad-Carney, Festival Co-Founder said:

“We built Threshold with friends, with volunteers, with a community that believed in creating space for things that didn’t always fit elsewhere. The legacy isn’t just in who ‘made it’ afterwards, it’s in who felt seen, heard and connected. This final event is for them – and for all of us. There will be no big headline acts – only artists, audiences and communities connected to the spirit of Threshold.

This isn’t a comeback, it’s a conclusion.”

Over ten years, Threshold became known for transforming unconventional spaces across the Baltic Triangle into immersive creative environments, blending music, visual art, performance, theatre, installations, talks and community activism long before the district became one of Liverpool’s cultural focal points.

It cemented itself as the first festival of the calender year in Liverpool, unofficially opening up the season of events. So, why is the celebration in August and not Spring? Well, Chris has the answer to this:

“We also got married on July 30th of 2011 and we thought this could make a pretty good double celebration. 15 years of Threshold and the Herstad-Carneys.”

Although never regarded as a headliner festival, the event hosted celebrated artists and acts such as: Akala, David Hoyle, Rob Vincent, Nubiyan Twist, Laura J Martin, Paddy Steer, Hannah Peel, DJ Rasp, The Destroyers, Jollyboat, Beans on Toast and SK Shlomo.

Artists who performed and exhibited at Threshold before going on to wider national and international recognition include: Jalen N’Gonda, Felix Hagan, Stealing Sheep, She Drew The Gun, Chelcee Grimes, Natalie McCool, Chinchilla, Kalandra, MiC Lowry, Seafoam Green, Queen Zee and Robyn Woolston.