One of the UK’s biggest arts festivals has announced dates for its sixth year.

The Folkestone Triennial, which is usually held every three years, will take place from July to October 2025.

The contemporary outdoor art festival last took place in 2021 and was due to return last year, but officials decided to hold off until 2025 to give the town a chance to improve its infrastructure and transport links.

The event is one of the few international triennials that focuses almost exclusively on art and, for the first time, it will be directed by Sorcha Carey, who was the director of the Edinburgh Art Festival for 10 years.

The theme for next year’s festival, which is produced by Creative Folkestone, will explore the geology and geography of Folkestone and will take visitors all the way back to the Stone Age when the first signs of human settlement were found in the area.

Previous years have seen artists look at Folkestone’s modern, Victorian and wartime eras, but this will be the first time that the festival has traced the town back to its origins.

Speaking of the theme, Sorcha said: “In digging into the soil, I'm interested to think about how some of Folkestone's deep histories can offer a space to reflect on contemporary concerns: from migration to the climate crisis, from how we form communities to our relationship to landscape. To think of the deep past depends on a leap of the imagination.

“The triennial invites artists to respond to the place and context of Folkestone, to reflect on human connections to and with the land, and out of the deep past to imagine new futures.”

The list of artists set to showcase their work next year will be announced in the spring, but previous editions have seen pieces from the likes of Tracey Emin, Banksy, Yoko Ono, Lubaina Himid and Martin Creed.

Alastair Upton, chief executive of Creative Folkestone, said: “We are thrilled to be able to announce the dates for the next Folkestone Triennial. We are energised to be working with Sorcha as curator to develop a new theme and concept for our exhibition and to inspire our communities, local, national and international, who will engage with the event next year. I look forward to sharing the full plans in 2025 and welcoming everyone to the south coast next summer.”

The Folkestone Triennial will take place from Saturday, July 19 to Sunday, October 19 2025.