May 31, 2023
An all you need to know guide to making the most of your visit to The Complex.
Whether you’re a Hidden Door veteran or visiting for the first time, this year offers something very different to anything you’ve seen before.
We open at 5pm on Wednesday 31 May.
From Thursday 1 – Sunday 4 June we open at 1pm each day and it’s free entry until 5pm.
After 5pm, you’ll need a ticket to access The Complex and all its secrets.
We close at 1am each night after our late night party in the Club Space.
Our 2023 venue is far from hidden – it’s the huge glass-fronted office opposite the Commonwealth Pool on Dalkeith Road.
It’s a 15 minute walk from Waverley Station, and a few minutes from several bus routes including Lothian buses 2, 14, 30, 33 and N30.
The full address is: 15 Dalkeith Rd, Edinburgh EH16 5BU
Where possible we encourage visitors to Hidden Door to cycle or use public transport. There is no public car parking at the venue, but if you are a blue badge holder please get in touch and we will help where we can.
Our public entrance is on Holyrood Park Road. Follow the signs, you can’t miss it!
Here you’ll discover the Hidden Door courtyard, a sunny gathering spot where you can grab your wristband from the box office area and check out the bars and food trucks before you dive into the building.
Our 2023 venue is huge. Really huge. But we have worked hard to ensure nobody gets lost. There will be signage throughout the building to help you find your way to all the visual art, performance spaces, bars, toilets and other key areas.
Be brave and explore – every corner is likely to have something interesting around it. We’ve got over 30 visual artists installing work throughout, so challenge yourself to find it all.
As always, we’ll have friendly stewards throughout the spaces to give you helpful advice and directions if needed.
A major new feature this year is the Environments: a series of transformed spaces and performance zones featuring live music, dance, soundscapes and visions.
The Environments will run on a repeated loop every night, starting from 6pm with the last entry at 9pm.
Once inside you can explore as you wish. There is no “correct order” in which to explore these worlds, and you may decide to spend 30 minutes or a couple of hours exploring. In order to see everything though, we recommend allowing at least 90 minutes in total.
You’ll obviously want to check out the live shows whilst you’re here – we’ve got a different line-up of live music, spoken word and late night DJs featured every night.
There are three main performance spaces – the Cabaret Stage, the Loading Bay Stage and the Spoken Word Stage. Just follow the signage to find your way between them.
We have published all performance times over on the ticket pages so you can plan your evening – follow these links to check out the timings for your chosen night:
With so much to explore, we encourage you to get down early to pack it all in.
Don’t worry about having your tea before you come along – we’ve got a wide selection of street food vendors to keep you satisfied during your visit, plus the usual selection of hand-built bars scattered throughout the venue so you never need to go thirsty.
Please be aware that the food and bars are accepting card payments only.
Deep in The Complex you’ll discover triffid, a new multi-disciplinary work inviting you to explore our venue as a disquieting narrative unfolds through recorded voice, music, sound and film. To experience this, we recommend you download the accompanying audio file before you arrive and bring headphones or earphones to get the best experience possible!
We are delighted to announce that this year’s venue is our most accessible yet. All three floors are accessible or ramped for patrons with mobility issues to explore, but to get the most out of your experience please do feel free to get in touch in advance and our friendly stewards will be on hand to make sure you don’t miss anything – as we’ve mentioned, the building is a maze! Due to the nature of the site (and its age!) some areas are accessible via slightly longer routes.
There will also be accessible portaloos and seating for any visitors who aren’t able to stand for long periods of time.
Quiet visiting times will also be available during the day.
The festival is free to attend during the day, so come down to see the visual art and grab some delicious street food whilst you are at it. The full programme kicks off from 5pm.
