Festival Focus is our professional development opportunity to attend an Outdoor Arts festival as part of a small cohort.
Festival Focus offers a unique blend of festival immersion and professional development. You’ll work closely with the OAUK team, gaining direct access to festival organisers and artists, and receive personalised development guidance. We’ll curate a shared viewing experience of key shows, followed by structured networking events where we will facilitate introductions and connections. We’ll prioritise cohort learning, creating dedicated spaces for discussion, Q&As, and informal knowledge sharing. This begins with a welcome session before the first performances and is followed by a group dinner, establishing a collaborative and supportive environment.
Festival Focus is for artists, producers, programmers, funders, or local authority staff who are committed to working in or supporting the Outdoor Arts sector. We welcome applications from a cross-section of career levels.
We limit the size of each cohort to 10 – 15 individuals to ensure each cohort get to know each other and to that everyone has a high-quality experience.
Join OAUK for exclusive member-only bursaries and no admin fee!
Festival Focus 2026
This year, we’re attending two events: SO Festival in Skegness and Freedom Festival in Hull.
So Festival, Skegness
Fri 12 – Sun 14 Jun
Freedom Festival, Hull
Fri 4 Sep – Sun 6 Sep
Image credits: Never a GULL Moment by Feasible Ferret Theatre at SO Festival 2025, photo: Jake Armstrong; Refuse by Compagnie Chameleon at Freedom Festival 2025, photo: Tom Arran
Cost and Bursary Places
Each selected individual is expected to cover own travel, accommodation and subsistence costs on a Self-Funded basis. There will be no additional charges to OAUK members, but a £45 administrative fee applies to non-members.
There is a limited number of bursary places available to OAUK members, which will help cover accommodation and £200 towards travel and subsistence. We will prioritise the allocation of bursary places to individuals who are freelance, and/or have historically faced disadvantage due to ethnicity, disability, socio-economic status and/or other protected characteristics.
Attendees applying for a Self-Funded basis are welcome to join both cohorts. Those applying for a bursary place will only receive a bursary to join one of the two cohorts. If you receive a bursary and would like to be part of the second cohort, you will need to join on a Self-Funded basis.
Join OAUK for access to bursaries, no admin fees and other benefits including members newsletters, outdoor arts resources, free webinars and invitations to contribute to sector advocacy.
Accessibility
We are dedicated to ensuring our services are accessible to everyone. We encourage you to contact us to discuss any specific access requirements you may have, and we will do our best to accommodate them. We are happy to discuss adjustments related to physical access, communication, and other support needs. For clarity, please note that childcare is not a service we provide or provide support for. Please contact David@outdoorartsuk.org to discuss your individual needs.
Please contact David@outdoorartsuk.org to discuss your individual needs.
How to Apply
Please apply for Festival Focus using the online application form by end of day Fri 17 Apr 2026. You are welcome to apply to join both cohorts or just one.
If you’d like to submit an application via alternate means, please let us know. This might be via a video responding to the questions, or via audio file. If you would prefer to review a list of all of our questions before completing the online survey, you can request a PDF copy by emailing info@outdoorartsuk.org
If you have any queries, please contact David: david@outdoorartsuk.org
Deadline: Fri 17 Apr 2026
We will aim to communicate decisions by Fri 24 Apr 2026
Previous Festival Focus Cohorts Say…
“The [Festival Focus] programme achieved a great balance in a range performances, talks Q&A and reflections. I valued this mix and found each part built on and supported the others.”
“I have made new connections and relationships. The experience has given me the opportunity to reflect on my practise and consider the next steps in my professional and creative growth.”
“I learnt a lot about some of the theory behind performance work, how to understand what good quality looks like, and something about all the different types of work available.”
“Thank you for offering this opportunity to learn more about the outdoor arts industry. It was a well-planned and well-executed weekend.”
“Listening to the festival organisers speaking about their programming decisions was very interesting. It was also really good chatting to the delegates about how they work, and what they are producing.”
