Hidden Door are thrilled to announce the takeover of a vast industrial site for their 2025 arts festival, with a venue launch party planned for this November. The Paper Factory is located in the Maybury Quarter, a 15.5-acre site occupied by the former Saica paper and cardboard manufacturing facility on the western edge of Edinburgh. The site features a mix of warehouses, factory floors, offices and outhouses. Bounded by the Edinburgh Gateway tram and rail station, there are excellent transport links to the city centre as well as to Glasgow and the west.
Hidden Door will transform the entire site for a full-scale multi arts festival in spring 2025, and have also announced a special launch party to give audiences a preview of some of the extraordinary spaces within. Featuring live music, visual art and performances, the event will take place on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 November. Full details of the November programme will be announced next month, with tickets now on sale. As with previous Hidden Door events, there will be free access during the day on Saturday 23 November.
The property has been empty since Saica’s relocation to a purpose-built facility in Livingston. Regeneration specialists Summix Capital are now developing proposals for the future of the site, and have offered Hidden Door access until the end of 2025.
Hazel Johnson, Festival Director of Hidden Door, said:
“Every new venue we take on presents unique opportunities and challenges, and this vast space is no different. We can’t wait to start work transforming the towering buildings, acres of warehouses and – in true Hidden Door style – all the nooks and crannies into one of our most ambitious arts venues yet.
“In addition to the festival, The Paper Factory will provide a base for Hidden Door to work with artists on site specific performance and art, commission new work and take huge steps towards our sustainability goals with workshops, studios and more. Our Venue Launch Party in November will provide a sneak peek into what we have in store – we look forward to welcoming you to the Paper Factory!”
Stuart Black, Development Director for Summix Capital, said:
“We are proud to be part of Hidden Door’s story by making this unique space available to them and the creative community they have built. Our vision is for Maybury Quarter Edinburgh to be one of the most exciting and best-connected development sites in Scotland. We’re really excited to see what Hidden Door’s artists can do with the space this autumn and throughout 2025.”
For more information on Hidden Door including tickets and venue location please check the website here.
About Hidden Door
Hidden Door was originally founded in 2009 by a group of creatives seeking to make something interesting happen in the city. Their mission was to create events where audiences could experience art away from the traditional “white cube” gallery format. The collective curated two events at the former Roxy Art House in 2010, bringing together visual art, performance, film and music. The closure of the Roxy left the group with no venue and over the subsequent years they explored options for running a multi-arts event in derelict spaces.
The idea grew as the volunteer team expanded, and in 2014 the first full Hidden Door Festival happened, when the team cleared out the disused Market Street vaults to run a 9-day celebration of the arts focused on showcasing local creative talent. In 2015 the festival moved to a hidden courtyard behind Kings’ Stables Road, and returned in 2016, attracting over 12,000 visitors to experience a wealth of art, poetry, theatre, cinema, dance and music. In 2017 the festival breathed new life into the old Leith Theatre, attracting rave reviews and critical praise for resurrecting “Scotland’s best new live music venue”, winning VisitScotland’s Thistle Award for “Best Cultural Event”.
In 2018, the festival returned to Leith Theatre, also taking up residence in the derelict former State Cinema, just around the corner. A farewell weekend event took place at Leith Theatre in 2019. During the pandemic, Hidden Door put on a series of online events, and returned with a bang to live events for a five-day outdoor event at Granton Gasworks in 2021.
In 2022, Hidden Door took over the Old Royal High School on Calton Hill for a ten day festival that brought life back to the school for the first time in years. In 2023, the former Scottish Widows office complex on Dalkeith Road was transformed for a five-day spectacular event. The unique “Environments” invited audiences to explore our venue in an immersive and atmospheric experience that attracted 5-star reviews and won Creative Edinburgh’s City Award. Earlier this year the Basement 3 car park of the St James Quarter was opened up for an immersive two-night birthday party celebrating 10 years of Hidden Door Festivals.
