As Mayor of Derry and Strabane, I am delighted and proud to welcome you to our historic city for the tenth edition of the Echo Echo Festival of Dance and Movement.

To mark this landmark year, the team at Echo Echo have developed a comprehensive and varied line-up, celebrating a diverse range of performance styles.

Over the next two weeks our city will come alive through dance and movement with a programme that features some of the best performers from across the island of Ireland and abroad.

Since its inception in our UK City of Culture Year of 2013, the festival has attracted over 12,000 audience members to live events from over 350 artists, including more than 50 from the island of Ireland.

As a Council we are pleased to acknowledge and support the key role the festival plays in showcasing our city to an international audience by providing financial support through our Headline Events Fund.

I would like to acknowledge the role of ACNI, the Department of Culture Ireland and all the other festival partners who have worked together to deliver an event of this quality.

The programme includes performances, workshops and exhibitions by local, national and international artists and I would encourage everyone to access it and plan your experience.

I’m sure I will meet some of you at the events over the two weeks and to all of you I wish you an unforgettable festival experience. 

Councillor Lilian Seenoi-Barr, Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council

As Echo Echo’s principal funder though our National Lottery funds, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted to welcome the 2025 edition of the International Festival of Movement and Dance.

This unique festival offers audiences from the North West the opportunity to experience performances and classes with leading local and international artists. This year there are some wonderful visiting Festival Artists, including the Irish Modern Dance Theatre with a production scored by local musician Ryan Vail, and a welcome return from Germany of a former Dancer in Residence at Echo Echo, Grete Smitaite.

Our congratulations to Echo Echo on the curation of another inspiring festival programme. We would encourage everyone to come along and enjoy this multinational showcase of movement and dance at its best.

Gilly Campbell, Director of Arts Development, Arts Council of Northern Ireland