Participants Information
This page is designed to give you all the practical information you need for the festival. We will update it regularly - and let you know about updates in our WhatsApp channel (see below in social media). If you have festival questions, please check-in here first to see if we have covered it already before you email.
WorkshopS and ShowS
Workshops and shows are now on sale. As part of the agreement to perform, teams are asked to share and promote their shows online. Please like and share festival announcements, and please do promote your show / workshop. We want you to get a good audience / class, have a fun time, and you will also get your cut of the door profits.
All performers and teachers get a Participant Wristband. This wristband gets you deprioritised access to shows, meaning that if a show doesn’t sell out, we will allocate seats to those with performer wristbands on a first come, first served basis.
Wristband Pick-up
There will be a welcome desk at Squire Performing Arts Centre manned on Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th September where wristbands can be picked up. For ease, we recommend one person from teams pick up for their entire team.
Your wristband will not only get you deprioritised access to shows, it will also get you discounts at various festival partners - check out the page for a full list.
How this Year’s Festival Will Work
Just like in 2024, this year we are back at the Square Performing Arts Centre in Nottingham. You can familiarise yourself with the space on their virtual tour here: https://squirepac.co.uk/tour/
The venue’s main theatre has 260 seats and the studio theatre (which is set-up at the back of its main stage) has 77 seats.
We want you to have the fullest room possible for the best vibe. The default for most shows will be to house you in the studio theatre. Shows that start to sell well may be moved into the main house.
Basic Timeline
Tuesday 2nd September - Arrival
Teachers and participants start to arrive in Nottingham
Wed 3rd Sept - Festival begins
10am - 4pm: Festival ensemble coaching
4.15pm - 5:45pm: The Robin Hood Tour of Nottingham. A guided tour around Nottingham’s City Centre by the City’s official Robin Hood Impersonator (yes that’s a thing).
5pm - 7:30pm: Welcome desk open. Come to Squire and pick up your festival wrist band.
7:30pm: Opening show, an audience jam, and drinks.
Thu 4th Sept
10am - 5pm: Workshops (note: some workshops start earlier than others)
5pm - 7pm: Welcome desk open. Come to Squire and pick up your festival wrist band.
7pm: Shows
Fri 5th Sept.
10am - 5pm: Workshops (note: some workshops start earlier than others)
7pm: Shows
Sat 6th Sept
10am - 1pm: Workshops
2pm - 5pm: Friar Tuck’s Improv Feast (more info to come).
6pm: Improv Boost Panel session
7pm: Shows
Sun 7th Sept
10am - 5pm: Workshops
6pm: Shows
11pm - Late: Official Robin Hood Afterparty/Pizza Party at Billy Bootleggers where you will get 20% drinks with your festival wristbands.
Social Media
Thank you for agreeing to promote your show as part of participating.
Please follow the festival on these channels so you can amplify mentions of your show and the festival more generally:
FB:www.facebook.com/robinhoodimprov
TW:www.twitter.com/robinhoodimprov
IG:www.instagram.com/robinhoodimprov
The festival’s official FB event is here Link to Follow. Please click “Going” and invite your friends to it. It really helps!
Nottingham is less than 2hrs away from 75% of the England’s population - if you have pals in England, they may fancy the day trip.
The RHIIF Community Facebook Group
We have a facebook group for performers and improvisers travelling to the festival / from the local scene! This is a great place to ask questions to local improvisers about Nottingham and a good way to get to know fellow performers before you arrive - particularly if you’re coming on your own.
How to join:
Go to the RHIIF Community FB Group
Join it!
Introduce Yourself
Say hi!! Tell us all who you are, what your pronouns are, who you’re performing with, where you’re from, and a fun fact about yourself, your team, or the world! Even if you’ve been before doing this helps so everyone can get a feel for who will be around!
E.g: “Hi, I’m Liam (He/Him), I’m from Nottingham but currently live in London and I’m one of the organisers of the festival!”
The RHIIF WhatsApp Group
This year we have a WhatsApp announcement channel which will allow us to send important updates, including when workshops go on sale / are close to selling out, any last minute venue information or unexpected changes during the festival.
Please make sure at least one person from your group joins the channel.
It’s in “broadcast only” mode so won’t fill up with lots of chatter.
Click here: Link to Follow.
Festival Venues
The festival will have a few major venues for workshops and shows, all of which are within a rough 1 mile radius of the city centre:
A. Squire Performing Arts Centre
Squire PAC is where all the festival’s shows will be taking place. Every evening from 4th - 8th September. This will also be the location for some of the workshops.
Detailed Getting to Squire Info
There is a Sainsbury’s Local supermarket a couple of minutes’ walk from the venue. Other food options near Squire PAC here!
B. The Malt Cross
One of our workshop spaces.
C. Nottingham Central Library
One of the workshop spaces. It’s in the same complex as the Broadmarsh Bus Station - where some of you may arrive into Nottingham.
D. Lincolnshire Poacher
A pub near the venue for post-show drinks.
E. Billy Bootleggers
The late-night city centre pub for the festival afterparty/pizza party.
F. The Train Station
Where many of you will arrive into Nottingham.
Explore the CitY (Self Guided Tours)
For visitors and residents we include these custom Google Maps, curated by local organisations and RHIIF Team Members so you can find exactly what you need in our fantastic host city:
Nottingham City Centre Map (2022)
We have a self-guided architecture tour of the city from local architect Julian Owen - which you can take yourself on here.
Travelling to Nottingham
By Plane
East Midlands Airport
The closest airport to Nottingham is East Midlands Airport (EMA) which is served by flights from various locations in Europe. If you’re flying into East Midlands, the cheapest and easiest way is to use the Skylink bus service which takes around 40mins to take you straight from the airport to Nottingham train station – which is on the doorstep of the venue!
London Airports
Heathrow, Gatwick and Stanstead in London host a huge number of international flights from all around the globe. From both you can get a coach (bus) direct to Nottingham, which will take around 4hrs30. Again, these busses stop at Nottingham Train Station, which is ideal for our venue. For these coaches we recommend using www.nationalexpress.com or www.megabus.com to find the lowest fares.
From both you can also travel by train, which is likely to be more expensive but quicker. In both cases you will need to get a train into London, the tube across London to London St Pancras Train Station and then the train to Nottingham. For trains we recommend using www.nationalrail.co.uk or www.thetrainline.com to find the lowest fares.
Manchester Airport
The other option for international flights is Manchester. But the above comments apply – direct buses are a cheaper option, while trains are quicker but more expensive. Both will drop you in Nottingham by the station a 5-min walk from the venue.
Car Sharing
We have a lot of teams and performers coming from around the UK as well as further afield – it may be that you could arrange to car share.
While we take no responsibility for organising these, it may be worth putting a note on the RHIIF Community Facebook group, where you could well find other performers to travel with and share costs!
The Eurostar
If you’re coming from mainland Europe, it may be worth looking at the Eurostar as a cost-effective and convenient mode of travel – it arrives into London St Pancras, the same station where you get the train to Nottingham, so the switch over is very easy and the actual experience in the station is really lovely and relaxed compared to what you get at airports.
Accomodation and Travel in nottingham
Our Hostel Deal
Igloo Hybrid
We have partnered with Igloo Hybrid Hostel, who will offer all performers at RHIIF a 15% discount for the duration of the festival. Their prices start at around £23 per night when the discount is applied. They fill up quickly on weekends so we recommend getting booked as soon as you can!
Book here: http://www.igloohostel.co.uk/igloo-hybrid/
Festival Discount Code: RHIIF2025
Note: This code will only work from 2nd - 9th September dates of the festival, but if you’re staying for longer simply contact them directly at hybrid@igloohostel.co.uk and they will sort you out with the discount over a longer stay.
Hotels
Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to secure any deals with local hotels, but ones we recommend because of how close they are to the festival’s venues are:
City Centre
Travelodge Nottingham Centre - From £60/night
Premier Inn - Nottingham City Centre - From £90/night
Mapperley
The Cotswold Hotel - From £52/night
Alternatives
AirBnB
While none of us have ever had any problem with AirBnb, it’s always worth making sure ensure you’re staying in a nice area, that it’s easy to get to the venue from.
Our top recommendations for areas are below.
TheatreDigsBooker
A UK based company that’s essentially a cheaper AirBnB specifically for theatre professionals. Similar to AirBnB - be sure to check where the accommodation is on google maps relative to Nottingham City Centre, and if in doubt ask local people on the RHIIF Community FB group. Link here
Areas in Nottingham We Recommend
Some of the nice neighbourhoods in Nottingham to stay are:
Nottingham City Centre, lots of apartments available in and around the city centre. Nottingham centre is pretty small so easily walkable.
The Park, a gated housing community just in the city centre. Very picturesque, probably a bit more expensive. Has very ornate, Victorian style gas lamps lighting it at night which is both very pretty and kinda spooky and scary and it gets really quite dark at night.
West Bridgford, a lovely little suburb which is a little bit out of town, but the bus from West Bridgeford takes about 10 mins, drops you right on the doorstep of the venue and runs late into the night. The highstreet has a number of lovely coffee shops and what not.
Mapperley, a lovely little suburb which is a 10-15 minute walk to the show venue. There are regular buses.
However, there are lots of lovely areas in Nottingham – if you want to ask about the location of your accommodation before you book, ask us or local improvisers in the RHIIF Community FB group.
Travel In Nottingham
Nottingham has an excellent public transport system. The easiest way to get from the train station to the venue, and between different workshop and show venues is to either walk or catch the tram.
Squire Performing Arts Centre’s nearest tram stop is: High School
The Malt Cross’ nearest tram stop is Old Market Square
The Central Library’s nearest tram stop is Lace Market
Billy Bootleggers’ nearest tram stop is Lace Market
Tickets and more information on the tram network can be found here:
Please note: You have to buy a tram ticket before you get on the tram, otherwise you could get fined!
A Note on Covid-19
The pandemic is thankfully over and we are all now learning to live with covid being a part of life. However, given the festival will be a coming together of many people, from many places we would appreciate everyone doing their bit to minimise the spread at the festival itself. We recommend that if it’s possible where you are, people get a covid booster shot in the months before coming to the festival, and wear masks when travelling in confined spaces such as planes and trains while en route to the festival itself.
Still Got Questions?
If there’s something you still need to know, please do email us. robinhoodimprov@gmail.com is monitored regularly.
The chances are, if you’ve read all this and have a question, it’s something we might want to include on this page to help others too. So please do get in touch!