Northern Festivals Network offers touring opportunities for disabled artists in 2017

The Just So Festival 2016

Friday 19th to Sunday 21st August 2016
Rode Hall Parkland, Scholar Green, Cheshire, ST7 3QP, England MAP
£125

Daily capacity: 5,000

The Northern Festivals Network and Unlimited Impact are inviting disabled artists and companies from any discipline whose work is suitable for families to request support for the creation of a new outdoor work for families commission to tour and present their works at outdoor festivals in 2017.

The unique commission opportunity is for disabled artists and companies developing disability-led work to create or adapt a work in any artistic discipline for families in an outdoor setting with guaranteed bookings at 4 festivals in Summer 2017.

The Northern Festivals Network is led by Wild Rumpus who produce large-scale outdoor arts events for families including the Just So Festival, A Day At The Lake, The Lost Carnival, and La Lune. The consortium also sees Just So Festival, joined by Kendal Calling, Ramsbottom Festival, Festival No. 6, Underneath the Stars, and Cloudspotting.

Sarah Bird, Director of Wild Rumpus said, "It's brilliant news that we’ve received continued funding from Arts Council England for the Northern Festivals Network, giving us the opportunity to carry on working together, programming great artists and companies and helping families to step outside their day to day lives and immerse themselves in the arts."

The Northern Festivals Network also includes Cloudspotting, Festival Number 6, Fire In The Mountain, Kendal Calling, Ramsbottom Festival, and Underneath The Stars. The consortium was founded by Just So, Kendal Calling and Ramsbottom Festivals in 2014 with a joint determination to raise the bar of family programming at greenfield festivals.

Unlimited Impact runs alongside the Unlimited commissions programme for disabled artists, supporting organisations to work in ways that stretch their practice in relation to inclusion and access. Currently there are few disabled artists creating work for family audiences, and few creating work for Greenfield sites.

Together the Northern Festivals Network and Unlimited Impact will commission an artist/group of artists/company to create ground breaking and exciting work in any genre, style or form for presentation to family audiences at Greenfield festivals across the country.

Jo Verrent, Senior Producer at Unlimited Impact said, "If you are an artist, you make work - any kind of work - and it should be the same for disabled artists. But too often disabled artists are not represented equally. Work for outdoor spaces and work for family audiences are both sectors where work by disabled artists is under represented. For us, this commission opportunity is a chance to readdress that. And it’s a well-designed process too - artists get a chance to see the sites and festivals before submitting a full application, so that they can stretch their practice. I genuinely can’t wait to see what will be commissioned."

Read the full brief and how to apply here with the deadline of 23 June (click here).

discuss this news on the Festival Forums