‘Funding Focus’ is OAUK’s new programme of free events to help Outdoor Arts practitioners & companies hit the jackpot when it comes to funding & fundraising.

Join us this summer at Hat Fair, B:D Festival, GDIF & Freedom Festival…

We live and work in hugely challenging times – cash is tight everywhere you look and for those working in the arts, just the thought of seeking new funding can cause major panic or a minor brain freeze. And let’s not forget environmental issues, international conflicts and wonky global politics…

So, if you are feeling lost in the lands of applications and spreadsheets, these free informal sessions are designed to be a friendly space to share your frustrations, explore ideas together and reignite your funding mojo…

After some breakfast treats and some short presentations for inspiration and example, we will gather in small groups to talk as broadly and creatively as possible, share our funding woes and, hopefully, start to find a way through the woods.

These free sessions are for artists, companies, arts organisations and festivals of any size or any experience. While we focus on outdoor arts, other local organisations are very welcome to join us.

Funding Focus Programme

Sat 1 Jul WINCHESTER > REGISTER NOW
Hat Fair is the longest-running outdoor arts festival in the country, with a unique hybrid model of paid artists and ‘hatting’ buskers; Sarah Davis (Winchester  IDvManager), Lottie Donovan (Fundraising Consultant) and Andrew Loretto (Hat Fair Director). 

Sat 29 Jul BRADFORD > REGISTER NOW
B:D Festival is a council-initiated festival. We will discuss the importance of outdoor work in the run-up to Bradford2025; with Karen Gallagher, Project Manager at Culture Liverpool.

Sat 26 Aug GREENWICH > REGISTER NOW
Greenwich+Docklands International Festival has a concentration on new work and inspirational international visitors, with an important emphasis on diversity; we’ll be hearing from David Johnson, Director of Strategy and Programmes at Cause4, Bradley Hemmings, Artistic Director of GDIF and Adriana Marques of the Peabody Trust, chaired by Angus MacKechnie, Director of OutdoorArtsUK.

Sun 3 Sep HULL > REGISTER NOW
Freedom Festival celebrates William Wilberforce’s contribution to freedom in society with a huge range of work from music to traditional street theatre; with contributions from Mikey Martins (Artistic Director & CEO of Freedom Festival), Nesta Sheehan (Producer at Back to Ours), Kath Wynne Hague (Head of Culture, Place and City Centre at Hull City Council) and Angus MacKechnie (Director of OutdoorArtsUK).

Funding Focus is supported by Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy.