Professional Sector Links

Articulation Scotland is an organisation for the support and development of Circus, Outdoor Arts and Physical Theatre in Scotland; Articulation’s vision is for Scotland to have a sustainable physical performance sector producing high-quality work that will engage the public across the country and internationally.

Articulture Wales supports the development of innovative, high-quality outdoor arts and diverse engaged audiences in Wales, fostering a community of collaborators from a wide range of arts and non-arts sectors; Articulture offers a wide range of networking and development opportunities.

Circostrada is a European community of circus and street arts professionals, linked by common values and aspirations and working towards achieving better recognition of the sectors, made up of passionate and committed individuals who meet several times a year.

Irish Street Arts, Circus & Spectacle (ISACS) aims to support, encourage and empower the Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle art-forms of Ireland; ISACS provides regular training, workshops, mentorship and professional support, and shares opportunities, such as funding, jobs, residences, call outs and events.

National Association of Street Artists (NASA) is a networking community of artists & makers who create & perform outside. Our collective voice is greater than the sum of our members. We believe in, encourage and offer peer support for artists, by artists.

Without Walls is the UK’s leading consortium of festivals and organisations dedicated to raising the profile of the UK Outdoor Arts sector. Without Walls brings together artists, promoters and commissioners to make high-quality multi-arts outdoor shows – from the intimate to the epic – that tour to festivals across the UK and beyond.

XTRAX is at the centre of UK Outdoor Arts, connecting individuals and enabling remarkable things to happen. Explore an exciting programme of national and international work and discover innovative UK outdoor performance.

Association for Events Management Education (AEME) aims to advance events education within the UK and overseas and to provide a discussion forum for issues affecting events education and industry.

Association of Festival Organisers (AFO) is a membership group of like-minded festival and event managers who believe in learning and teaching, sharing and networking to continuously improve the festival scene.

Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) is the UK’s leading non-profit festival trade association. Created to represent and empower independent festivals, enabling festival organisers to connect with each other and take the temperature of the industry. Alongside direct lobbying to Government, AIF sits on the UK Live Group of UK Music.

British Arts Festivals Association (BAFA) is the leading network and development agency for UK arts festivals and its membership includes a broad variety of organisations across the UK of all types and sizes, ranging from the BBC Proms to Ventnor Fringe Festival, St Andrews Voices to Between The Trees.

The European Festivals Association (EFA)’s mission is to unite and represent its member festivals across Europe and the world by contributing to the artistic life of Europe; iInteraction between festivals with public authorities and other stakeholders in the arts are central to EFA’s work.

Event Industry Forum (EIF) provides an informal organisation that brings together event industry trade associations and similar bodies to discuss issues of common interest; the Forum usually meets twice a year.

National Outdoor Events Association (NOEA) is the UK’s leading trade association representing and progressing the outdoor events sector, representing both its members and the wider industry by presenting a professional, creative, highly productive sector of the UK plc.

Carnival Network South is the UK’s first constituted Carnival network, with a mission is to advance and advocate for excellence in the Carnival, Outdoor, Community and Combined Arts sectors; from costume and float markers to musicians, artists, producers, and event organisers CNS aims to represent all aspects of this ever-evolving art form.

East Midlands Caribbean Carnival Arts Network (EMCCAN) supports and encourages best practice artistic and management delivery and provides sector leadership, to enhance the development of Caribbean carnival and carnival with a Caribbean flavour in the East Midlands.

The New Carnival Company aims to promote and diversify the nationally acclaimed Carnival arts engagement and learning programmes emanating from the Isle of Wight; as former local authority arts development officers and community learning managers, NCC has over 25 years of experience of working together in this specialist field.

UK Centre for Carnival Arts (UKCCA) aims to ensure Carnival is universally valued as a leader in artistic excellence and inclusive cultural expression; UKCCA connects, inspires and strengthens the Carnival arts sector across the UK.

Light up the North (LUTN) is a network of six northern light festivals that share their collective expertise to support the development of the partner festivals and the wider sector, LUTN nurtures artistic ambition through artist and producer development, co-commissioning and joint fundraising.

The International Light Festivals Organisation (ILO) is a worldwide network of public light festivals, public light events and light art experts, sharing expertise, inspiration and information on an international level, encouraging networking and creating a platform for co-production, research and communication.

The Mela Partnership is a national membership organisation that supports the development of Mela and the next generation of Mela Makers; working with artists, arts organisations, arts centres, CPPs, local authorities, volunteers, businesses, schools, colleges, families and communities to bring people together and make people happy.

Artsadmin is a company of creative people working with artists to develop and make performance projects for local, national and international audiences in a variety of places and contexts, enabling artists to create without boundaries, producing bold, interdisciplinary work.

Live Art Development Agency (LADA) supports contemporary culture’s most radical and inventive artists, practices and ideas and champions new ways of working, legitimise unclassifiable artforms, record untold histories, and support the agency of underrepresented artists.

Puppet Centre Trust is the national development agency for puppetry and focuses on contemporary performance practice, encouraging innovation, whilst also respecting and preserving the heritage of the art form.