Expressions of Interest to Co-Design Festival Makers Connect 2026
Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, would like to invite expressions of interest from Festival Makers, Producers and Festival Practitioners and Stakeholders across Northern Ireland and border counties in Ireland to co-design and participate in the Festival Makers Connect programme.
What is Festival Makers Connect?
Festival Makers Connect takes place as part of the Arts Council of Ireland’s Festival Makers Conference. This additional conference day is specifically designed and curated by festival makers and festival organisations, supported by Create, to build festivals’ capacity and develop strategies that foster inclusive community engagement, community led programming and collaborative arts practices.
Festival Makers Connect 2026 takes place on Saturday 23rd May 2026 and the Festival Makers Conference is the first event of the Festivals Connect Programme 2025-2029.
A Festival Makers Connect Co-design focus group (a core group of cross-community and cross border festival makers) will be formed to inform, design and shape the day’s programme, facilitated by Create and an appointed event manager utilising co-design principles.
Time Commitment:
- The Festival Makers Connect Co-design group will have up to 4 focus group meetings of up to 2 hours each during April and May 2026.
- Meetings will be accessible via MS Teams with up to 12 places available.
Please note further opportunities to participate in the Festivals Connect programme will be available over the next three years.
Submission Details
To express your interest in participating in the Festival Makers Connect Co design focus group, please send either a short statement (max 300 words), video or audio submission (max. 3 minutes) outlining your festival experience and how membership of the focus group will support and develop your professional practice and/or the festivals or communities you work with. Submissions should be sent by Sunday 19th April 2026 to festivalmakers@create-ireland.ie including your name and contact details (phone and email address).
Submissions will be reviewed by an assessment panel in line with the project’s governance and selection procedures to ensure fair and equal representation across Northern Ireland and border counties of Ireland.
Inclusion and Accessibility
Create is committed to promoting the values of equality, diversity, and inclusion and integrating them into its structures, actions and culture and we positively encourage
applications from all sections of the community. In establishing the Festival Makers Connect group panel, the ambition is to include representation from a diverse set of festival practitioners across communities, gender, practice and geographical spread. We aim to ensure membership of this group is accessible to all, please let us know if you require any additional support to participate and you can read our EDI policy here: Create-EDI-Policy
Create
Create is Ireland’s national development agency for collaborative arts. Our work initiates cross sectoral national and international partnerships which support artists and communities to co-create work of depth, ambition and excellence. Our mission is to lead the development of collaborative arts practice by enabling artists and communities to create exceptional art together. As a resource organisation we offer supports for artists working in social and community contexts. These include professional development, mentoring, project development support, commissioning and project opportunities as well as research and training.
Festivals Connect
The Festivals Connect programme is led by Create, in partnership with the British Council and associate partnerships with the Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Festivals Connect is a capacity building and cross community collaborative initiative which takes place between 2025 and 2029. If you would like to know more about the Festivals Connect programme more details can be found here.
If you would like to receive information about the Festivals Connect programme, you can sign up to the Festivals Connect programme mailing list here:
Festivals Connect Mailing List – Create.
For more information on all Festivals Connect partners and associate partners, please see:
● Create: www.create-ireland.ie
● British Council: www.britishcouncil.ie
● PEACEPLUS: www.seupb.eu/peaceplus
● Arts Council Northern Ireland: www.artscouncil-ni.org
● Arts Council of Ireland: www.artscouncil.ie
● Arts Council: Festival Makers Conference: https://artscouncil.ie/events/festival-makers-conference-21-23-may-2026/
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