Blackpool School of Arts opens its doors this weekend for a day of exhibitions, workshops and live performance as its graduate showcase joins forces with a youth-led arts festival.
On Saturday 13 June, Blackpool School of Arts (BSOA) will host the day-long celebration of creativity, collaboration and emerging talent as two events unfold simultaneously across the campus – A Look In and A Different Way.
Headline exhibition A Look In is BSOA’s 2026 Graduate Showcase – presenting work from final-year students across a range of creative disciplines. From art and design to photography, illustration and digital practice, the exhibition offers visitors a chance to discover the next generation of creative talent before they enter industry.
Alongside the showcase, A Different Way brings fresh energy to the building – an opportunity to the public to participate in creative activities and for young people to explore creative courses and careers.
Visitors will experience live music and DJs, fashion shows, dance performances, skateboarding workshops, printmaking, screen printing, ceramics, photography challenges, zine-making, portrait drawing, collaborative art projects and live demonstrations throughout the day. There will also be a Creative Careers Zone offering advice and inspiration for anyone considering a future in the creative industries. (There’ll also be free pizza!)
With support from Creative Blackpool, A Different Way is produced by Creative Fusion, the country’s first youth-led Local Cultural Education Partnership (LCEP). It brings together young creatives from across Blackpool to shape projects for their peers, giving them opportunity to develop leadership skills, influence local cultural strategy and create opportunities for others.
The event will also offer an early glimpse into Blackpool’s Cultural Passport – a Creative Blackpool project which is being developed by the Fusion group. The Passport will connect young people with cultural opportunities across the town through a dedicated app. It’s being designed to provide access to events, learning opportunities, experiences and free tickets with the aim of helping young people build lifelong relationships with arts and culture in Blackpool. Visitors will be able to test early-stage Creative Passport challenges and learn more about its development.
Taken together, the two events encourage locals to take a look in, and perhaps discover a different way of seeing Blackpool’s creative future.
