The AI Arts Festival 2026 is an innovative one‑day event exploring what happens when artificial intelligence and the arts come together. This year’s festival showcases how AI and creative practice are working together across disciplines including photography, film, robotics, theatre, music, and comedy.
Taking place on Sunday 22 March 2026 at the The Arc and the Theatre Royal Winchester, the festival invites the public to experience a rich programme of performances, exhibitions, demonstrations and discussions featuring artists, technologists and researchers from across the University and beyond.
The selection of events on the day include –
- Improbotics Kids! – An award‑winning, family‑friendly AI improv performance blending comedy with real science to build AI literacy and celebrate human creativity.
- RoboPaws Live! – A hands‑on exploration of robotic dogs, how they function, and how AI is shaping future forms of companionship and artistic expression.
- Ghost in the Machine – An atmospheric encounter where audiences interact in real time with a projected ghost‑like humanoid figure.
- AI Mozart – A unique concert of piano works composed by artificial intelligence, culminating in an audience‑led interactive finale.
Dr Boyd Branch, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, is bringing his show Improbotics Kids to the Festival, “Artificial intelligence presents both an exciting opportunity and a creative challenge for artists and researchers alike. Through performances like Improbotics Kids, we can explore those ideas in a playful and accessible way, helping audiences understand how AI works while celebrating human creativity. The AI Arts Festival is about bringing these conversations out of the lab and into public spaces in our region, showing how universities, artists and communities can come together to explore the future of technology and the arts.”
Date: Sunday 22 March 2026
Time: 10:00am – 9:30pm
Locations: Theatre Royal Winchester & The Arc, Winchester
The programme includes a mix of free and paid sessions, all requiring registration. Tickets are now available.
Full programme details and booking links are available at: aiartsfestival.soton.ac.uk
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The AI arts Festival 2026 is led by AI@Southampton, with support from the Web Science Institute and Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities.
The festival is artistically led by:
- Professor Thomas Irvine
- Professor Larry Lynch
- Professor Les Carr
- Professor Sunil Manghani
Their collective expertise spans music, digital culture, AI, creative practice, and web science—reflecting the interdisciplinary spirit at the heart of the festival.
