Festivals Connect – Training and Skills Development for Festival Makers

Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, invites individuals, organisations, or consortia with relevant skills and experience to apply for inclusion on a multi-lot framework agreement. The framework will cover the delivery of a Training and Skills Development programme for the festival sector, with a focus on festivals in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.

This is a multi-lot framework tender. The framework is divided into 5 lots, to enable different pieces of work to be delivered by contractors, suppliers, teams, or consortia expert in the field for each lot.

Prospective applicants are invited to submit their tender response via the etenders website. Alternatively, you can email your Tender response direct to: connect[at]create-ireland.ie. The deadline for receipt of tenders is 5pm on Thursday 23rd October 2026.

About Festivals Connect

The Festivals Connect programme is led by Create, in partnership with the British Council, with support from Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Ireland, supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Festivals Connect aims to engage with existing festivals and provide opportunities, centred in cultural democratic approaches that foster inclusive social engagement and build sustainable structures to continually develop community-led programmes and partnerships.