Festival Focus 2026 at Freedom Festival, Hull

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.

At Freedom Festival in Hull, we’ll be learning about how they want to deliver an all-year-round outdoor arts programme, how they balance programming international and local artists, and the long-term impact the festival has had on the city. You can also apply for Festival Focus at SO Festival in Skegness, Fri 12 – Sun 14 Jun.