A round-up of opportunities available to creatives based on the Fylde Coast in March 2026.
These include grant funding, commissions, jobs, consultations, research projects and more. New opportunities will be added to this page as they arise.
SHINE Emerging Artist Programme
Deadline for submissions, 9am Monday 11 May 2026
SHINE is led by Light Up The North (LUTN) a network of light festivals across the North of England.
For 2026, a group of LUTN festivals will work together to commission two new artworks. These works will tour to multiple festivals, giving artists the opportunity to create new light art and present their work to large and diverse audiences across the region.
SHINE is designed to support artists to:
- Develop their creative practice
- Create work at a larger scale
- Gain experience of working in outdoor festival contexts
- Build their profile within the light art sector
The Opportunity
We will commission two artists or collectives to create new light-based artworks.
Commission fee: up to £15,000 (to cover all artist fees and fabrication costs)
Touring costs: Covered separately up to £2,500 (to attend up to 4 festivals)
Additional support: Production, mentoring and training
Selected artists will receive:
- A full induction into the programme
- Ongoing mentoring from experienced festival producers
- Support with production, technical delivery and touring
- Guidance on budgeting, sustainability and working in public space
- Profiling through festival marketing and PR
FREE co-working day at the Robinson
We’re inviting you to experience co-working at The Robinson for free. Located in the centre of Blackpool, minutes from the train station and local public transport.
What you’ll get:
- A full day in our co-working area
- Bright, open-plan space
- Fast WiFi
- Modern vibe
- Refreshments
- Bike store
- A friendly team to support you
No commitment. No pressure. Just a better way to work.
SPARK - Artist & Producer Programme 2026
Deadline for submissions, 5pm, Friday 22 May
The SPARK programme nurtures and develops artists & producers interested in working in the light art sector.
In supporting new and emerging artists and producers through a bespoke package of opportunities provided by LUTN members, SPARK is positively focused on increasing inclusivity and diversity in the sector.
SPARK is a great opportunity for early career artists wanting to develop their practice in light based and digital work for light festivals AND for early career producers wanting to learn and understand the research, planning, budgeting, commissioning, partnership and audience development, curating and presenting skills that underpin running successful light art festivals.
Across 2 weekends in November, the project will offer up to six individuals – three early career artists and three early career producers – the opportunity to be supported through a specially designed programme of informal workshops, networking events, mentoring and talks scheduled to complement two LUTN partner festivals – Light Up Lancaster (5-7 Nov) and Light Night Wigan (20-22 Nov).
The six individuals, selected through an open call, will each be awarded bursaries of £300 to participate in the SPARK programme, with additional funds of up to £600 each, allocated to cover travel, accommodation and subsistence costs to attend Light Night Wigan & Light Up Lancaster, where the programme of activity will take place.
BRiGHTBLACK: paid artist residency
Deadline for applications:midnight on 24 May.
Residency dates: June 27th to July 1st 2026
Electric Dreaming AI Lab @ Cambridge Univeristy
BRiGHTBLACK are proud to announce a paid five day AI Lab Residency taking place June 27th to July 1st 2026.
Five UK based artists will join BRiGHTBLACK for 5 days at Cambridge University’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at Jesus College to explore how ethical use of artificial intelligence in their practice might help them meet five critical challenges facing artists at the current time;
- making work which meets the expectations of contemporary audiences for immersion, interactivity, playability and engagement.
- using AI to building commenities and opportunities around your work
- reducing the amount of admin required to sustain your practice
- overcoming career bottle-necks around funding, visibility and access
- reaching net-zero goals for carbon emissions and energy use
No previous experience of artificial intelligence is required in order to apply.
Lightpool Projection Mapping commissions
Deadline for both opportunities: 15 May 2026
UK-based digital artists and animators are invited to bring bold ideas to life through two exciting projection-mapping commissions.
Blackpool Tower
- Budget: up to £7,000
- Create a fun, family-friendly 3–4 minute 3D projection-mapped piece for one of the UK’s most iconic landmarks
- Find out more
Blackpool Wedding Chapel
- Budget: £5,000
- Reimagine the chapel as a striking, immersive 3D experience with a 3–4 minute projection-mapped artwork
- Find out more
Lancashire Music Summit 2026
12.30 – 5pm, Tuesday 19 May 2026
53 Degrees Venue, University of Lancashire, Preston, PR1
The Lancashire Music Summit brings together artists, promoters, venue operators, educators, local authorities and other music stakeholders to explore how Lancashire can better support its music people, places and scenes.
Building on last year’s focus on the things our music sector needs to thrive, this year’s event places greater emphasis on activity, opportunity, interventions and what Lancashire can do in practice to strengthen its music ecology. The Summit aims to share insight, spark new ideas, strengthen connections and help shape practical next steps for the county’s music sector.
Discussion and consultation topics:
Live and recorded music; digital releasing and label development; talent development and pathways to music careers; audience development and sustainable activity as well as exploring new ideas and opportunities; and funding, investment potential and practical next steps.
Speakers include:
Ramin Bostan (Music Industry Executive), Mike Murphy (Ditto Music), Prof. Alice O’Grady (University of Leeds), Tony Rigg (Lancashire Music Association / University of Lancashire), Jennie Russell-Smith (Rebellion Festival), Jamie Turner (Actual Music) and Jacki Willson (University of Leeds).
Tickets are free for Lancashire Music Association members. (Membership is free.)
Ages 16+, under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult. View the full agenda and speaker line up on the Lancashire Music website and book your place on Skiddle.
Call for Contributions: ‘Creature, Stranger, Monster, Other:A Photography Conference’
Deadline for Applications: Sunday 10 May 2026, 23:59 BST
Live Event: 10:00-17:00 BST, Friday 26June 2026 (in-person)
Venue: Room Y0.02 (Ground Floor), Greater Manchester Business School, University of Greater Manchester, Great Moor St, Bolton BL1 1SW (next door to Bolton Train Station)
We invite proposals for 15-minute presentations that challenge dominant accounts of the Other in contemporary photography – from the traditional to the experimental to the genre-bending. As the conference is open to the public, it is intended to reach a broad, diverse audience that is as accessible as possible.
Presentations will question, respond to, or skirt the edges of ‘Creature, Stranger, Monster, Other’.
For this particular conference, we are inviting a wide range of contemporary photographic practitioners and image-makers, working in traditional, experimental, expanded or hybrid forms. Photographers, artists, critics, curators, theorists, writers, archivists, historians, performers, other… If your research interests respond to photography in any shape or form, we want to hear from you.
£150 speaker fee, plus UK-based travel expenses to Bolton.
We will be publishing a journal of ‘Creature, Stranger, Monster, Other’ contributions (image and text) from all speakers, which we hope to collate post-conference.
The live event will be recorded, with the intention of sharing it online for those who can’t attend in-person.
Creative Blackpool: Community Commission
Application deadline: 19 May 2026
Open Call for creatives to work in Claremont
We are looking for a talented, ambitious creative/s who would like to use their creativity to make a difference to the residents of Claremont, Blackpool.
Creative Blackpool are working with a collective of local charities (Magic Club, Claremont First Step, Claremont Park Community Centre) who want to explore and strengthen Claremont’s identity by working with residents to reflect on what they value and feel proud of in their community. This commission will challenge negative perceptions, celebrate local assets, stories and strengths and create a shared creative expression of Our Claremont.
This opportunity is open to all UK based creatives who meet eligibility requirements. Creatives will need to be available to work in Claremont, Blackpool in May – July 2026.
Commission: £5k
Lightpool Digilab
Deadline for Applications: 12pm Mon 6th July
DigiLab is a free workshop week for anyone aged 18+ who wants to develop skills in projection mapping,
Led by imitating the dog and held at Lightworks, the home of Blackpool Illuminations, the project runs from 10am-5pm, Mon 23-Fri 27 Nov 2026.
Participants will learn about Imitating the Dog’s approach to site-specific projection-mapped installations, from storyboarding through to basic animation and mapping techniques.
Participants will learn about imitating the dog’s approach to site-specific projection mapping work, from storyboarding, through basic animation and projection mapping techniques. Together we’ll be making a short piece of work using software such as After Effects, Photoshop, Isadora and QLab, to be projected indoors onto a model building.
The group will work with imitating the dog artists to learn about storytelling through projection mapping, developing techniques and putting them into practice to create a piece of work together.
The workshop week is FREE but numbers are strictly limited. All places must be confirmed in advance.
Fluxus: Magnetic Artist Residencies
Deadline for Applications: Midnight Tueday 2 June 2026
Magnetic is a joint Franco-UK initiative that brings together ten institutions to create a programme of artist residencies of 2 to 3 months each:
- five in France – Capc in Bordeaux, Frac Grand Large in Dunkirk, Frac Bretagne in Rennes, Villa Arson in Nice, Bétonsalon – Centre for art and research in Paris – and
- five in the United Kingdom – Wysing Arts Centre and Gasworks in England, Flax Art Studios in Northern Ireland, Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Wales, and Cove Park in Scotland.
- Societal and environmental issues are at the heart of this programme, the residencies are situated, with the selected artists expected to work according to the focus of each residency, in resonance with each specific context – geographical or historical, societal, artistic etc.
- Artists receive a threshold monthly fee of £2,100 / 2 500 €
- Each artist benefits from curatorial mentoring
- Each residency is tailor-made in discussion with the curatorial teams
- Each residency provides the artist with networking opportunities throughout their stay
- Artists are provided with accommodation and access to a work space
