7th – 8th August 2026
Upgrade Yourself Festival is back with two FREE days of connecting you with cultural changemakers and creative visionaries.
This year's edition of the festival will be an upgrade in itself. We’re going beyond your traditional careers festival to explore and celebrate creativity as a tool for self-expression, creative growth, and collective imagination.
Curated for creatives aged 16–30, expect two days of dreaming, reflecting, imagining and testing new ideas. Empowering you to express yourself, build your community, and experiment boldly.
Whether you’re just starting out or ready to take your next step, come get inspired, make new connections and celebrate the future of creativity. We can't wait to see everyone there!
Masterclass (part of the Get Into Theatre family) is seeking applications for a Wigs, Hair & Makeup Intern on a touring show. This is an exciting development opportunity for someone with styling and braiding experience, who wishes to develop their skills and build a career in theatre Wigs, Hair & Makeup (WHAM).
Not sure what job this internship could lead to? Check out a full list of backstage careers here.
Key Information:
📅 Internship: 17 September 2026 – 15 November 2026. Please Note: All applicants must be able to commit to the full contract, and to travelling as part of a UK tour.
🚀 Apply by: 9am, Monday 3 August
🎤 Interviews: Mid-August
💰 Salary: Paid at London Living Wage, plus touring allowance
📍Based: This internship is on a UK tour going to seven venues
✍️ Contract Type: Fixed term
💼 Working pattern: 6 days a week, including weekends. Average 40 hours per week.
Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
Styling and braiding of textured hair
Application of hair pieces
General preparation work
Support to the Head and Deputy Head of WHAM
Who Should Apply:
We're looking for candidates who:
✔ Have some experience or training with textured hair, braiding & hair pieces
✔ Are enthusiastic and keen to learn
✔ Are aged 18+
✔ Have the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the placement
Applications are now open for the HAC Young Creatives Programme 2026-27! An exciting opportunity for young adults aged 19-26 to gain free creative industry skills.
What's on Offer:
The HAC Young Creatives Programme aims to develop the skills and talents of young people looking to begin careers in the theatre industry. The course is designed to develop your individual creative practice, and work together as an ensemble to create a professional production.
Term 1:
Term 2:
The course will take place on Thursday evenings (term time) between September 2026 - April 2027, with an intensive showcase rehearsal week from 22nd - 25th March 2027.
Content has been designed to develop your creative skills and your practical knowledge so you’re ready to go out into the industry and take the limelight. What’s more, you’ll meet like-minded creative enthusiasts and become part of a supportive and inspiring artistic community.
To apply, please fill out the application form at the base of this page. If you'd prefer to send your answers to us in video format, please send to participation@harrowarts.com with the subject line 'Young Creatives Application'.
Chichester Festival Theatre believe positive change can be ignited by young people. They endeavour to create an atmosphere where debate and collaboration are celebrated, where young people’s voices are heard and where there is the space and opportunity to think boldly and dynamically about how best to drive Chichester Festival Theatre towards a diverse, inspiring and exciting future.
They are looking for four innovative and driven young people between the ages of 16-25 to join their current members of the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) and help think creatively about how the Theatre can work to welcome diverse and dynamic audiences. It doesn’t matter whether you have previously engaged with the Theatre or not, they want to hear from people with a variety of interests, which may include the arts.
The YAB will have the opportunity to collaborate with the Festival Theatre’s Board of Trustees, taking part in a two-way conversation on how best to make the Theatre a more inviting and exciting place for young people.
Sound like something you would like to get involved in? Please visit their website for full details and the application form to apply.
Connections Through Culture (CTC) grants are designed to enable meaningful partnerships, cross-cultural exchange and long-term collaboration between the UK and participating countries.
Grants of between £5,000 and £15,000 are available to support creative practitioners, cultural professionals, artists, organisations, festivals, biennials, hubs and collectives to develop and deliver projects across a range of themes and art forms.
Eligible activity may include:
Young Designers is a 10-week course for young people aged 13-17, hosted by Northern Stage.
Explore how designers bring theatre to life in their weekly introductory masterclasses! Guided by industry professionals, you’ll get hands-on experience in costume design, hair and make-up design, and work with elements of technical theatre.
This course will focus on design for live performance, and you’ll learn skills applicable to theatre, film, TV, live music, and other visual art forms. Sessions are led by the experienced Northern Stage team, and you’ll work alongside guest artists and creatives working professionally in the region.
Understand the principles of designing and sourcing costumes for performance. Develop costume ideas, create mood boards, observe demonstrations, experiment with different design techniques, build your own costumes, try your hand at special effects makeup. You’ll work towards a mini exhibition at the end of the course to showcase your skills. No previous experience needed – just bring along your enthusiasm for creating!
Deadline to apply: Sunday 16 August
The cost of the course varies depending on your circumstances. Northern Stage have created a payment scale (see below) to help you identify which fee is appropriate for you. Fees cover the cost of the 10 sessions as well as tickets to selected performances at Northern Stage as part of the programme.
Fees are required to be paid in advance of starting the course and more information about how to do this will follow if you are successfully selected to take part.
Standard fee: £150 (If you have the means to pay for the full value of the course)
Discounted fee: £90 (If you do not have the means to pay for the full value of the course)
Bursary places: FREE*
*Bursary places are limited and bursary applications from young people from a low-socioeconomic background, from the global majority or with a disability will be prioritised, in line with Northern Stage’s strategic priorities. As part of a bursary place, we can also support with the cost of travelling to and from sessions.
This 2-day training course and 4-month apprenticeship scheme are ideal for drama, arts and occupational, therapists; arts practitioners; community arts workers; oral historians; group workers; reminiscence practitioners; and professionals working in health and social care. An interest in, or experience of, positive approaches to dementia care is beneficial.
The training course runs from 17th to 18th September 2026 in Camden, London.
For more information, please see the URL in the Opportunity Info section of this listing.
The Open Fund for Individuals is one of Creative Scotland’s key funding programmes, supporting the wide range of activity initiated by artists, writers, producers and other creative practitioners in Scotland. The overall annual budget for this fund is £5 million.
The fund is intended to support periods of research, development and/or delivery of creative activity, such as specific projects and productions for up to 24 months. It can support an individual’s time where this is related to specific creative outcomes.
We will ask you to tell us the start and end date for this activity and to describe the outcomes, benefits and impacts that you wish to achieve.
Freelance and self-employed artists and creative practitioners living in Scotland who are at least 18 years old are eligible to apply. You must have a UK bank account in your name.
If you are not a self-employed individual or a sole trader, you may be eligible for the National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations.
Please read the guidance for full information on eligibility.
You can apply for between £500 and £50,000.
As standard, if your application request is between £500 and £20,000 you will hear the outcome in 10 weeks. If your application request is between £20,001 and £50,000 you will hear the outcome in 14 weeks.
Please see above for details of our 25/26 Christmas closure and the effects it will have on our processing timelines.
The Support for Individual Artists Programme (SIAP) is a range of schemes which aim to support artists across all disciplines to create work and develop their practice
The Project Funding for Individuals scheme aims to support the wide range of activity that can be undertaken by artists of all disciplines in relation to their practice, and to enable innovation and experimentation. A “project” and its associated costs can be any activity that develops and supports your creative practice.
Project proposals could, for example, be any of the activities below - or a combination of them:
If you are looking for information on other Support for the Individual Artist Schemes, guidance notes for all schemes are available from artscouncil-ni.org/funding/funding-for-individuals You should read the guidance notes for each scheme to find the most suitable for you and your project idea.
This 2-year, part-time MA is a creative and challenging exploration into the power of socially engaged arts. We aim to develop the next generation of cultural leaders and interdisciplinary theatre practitioners. Graduates will lead the way in providing meaningful, inclusive arts experiences that address social, political and educational issues in a broad range of settings.
The course offers a holistic programme that invites creative reflection on the power of storytelling for social transformation. Students address complex issues in critical and creative ways, considering the role of arts in education, migration and exile, health and building communities. You’ll engage with course learning through practical exploration, collaboration, group discussion, independent study and reflective practice.
Delivered part-time, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, including professionals working in youth, community and/or education settings as well as performers looking to develop and diversify their practice.
VISITING AND GUEST PRACTITIONERS
In addition to the core Mountview team, students work with visiting lecturers and practitioners from a range world-class organisations. These include Turtle Key Arts, Punchdrunk Enrichment, Complicité, Clod Ensemble, Unicorn Theatre, Clean Break, Theatre Peckham, Candoco Dance Company, Brixton House, Wales Millenium Centre, Tate Modern, Glasshouse Theatre and Access All Areas.
Topics covered by visiting lecturers are varied and include:
Students are supported to discover placements for their independent research projects based on their specific interests and emerging ideas and practice. Recent partnerships include Newham Children In Care Council, Little Fish Theatre Company and Tropical Pressure Festival, among others.
COURSE CONTENT AND DELIVERY
There is one day of in-person teaching each week, with one additional Friday and Saturday each term.
Throughout the course students develop skills in critical thinking, facilitating, devising, leading, producing, discussing and teaching creatively and imaginatively. Study involves workshops, lectures and seminars as well as independent collaborative and solo practice/research. Students are assigned weekly reading materials to digest course themes and engage in learning through independent study.
Reciprocal and collaborative learning is embedded into course practice. Students are provided with opportunities to design and lead practical workshops for one another, to bring topics for facilitated discussion with their Course Leader and to choose areas of focus for specific assessments, based on their interests and experiences.
Practical areas of study include collaborative and ensemble techniques, forum theatre, arts for wellbeing, devised theatre, inclusive and trauma informed practices, arts and money, decolonial feminist approaches, facilitating in multilingual and multifaith spaces, and ethics in artistic practice.
Students gain practical experience running workshops in schools, both in Peckham and further afield – previous locations include Spain and Nigeria.
Students engage in a wide range of texts such as Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks and Theatre for Living: The Art and Science of Community-Based Dialogue by David Diamond.
Assessments are varied and include essays, talks, education packs, presentations, and workshop samples.
