Applications close
Sunday 1 February 2026 at midnight
The Four Nations Outdoor Arts Bursary offers supported funding to emerging artists and companies to create new outdoor performance work. This work will be toured to festivals across all four nations throughout the summer of 2026.
We’re thrilled to be once again able to bring the Four Nations Outdoor Arts Bursary to early-career performance makers in Bradford, nurturing the creation of exciting new work for touring next summer.
The Four Nations Outdoor Arts Bursary includes:
- A budget of £5,000 for the creation of new outdoor performance work
- A fee of £150 per day, per person for performance days
- Professional mentoring from the associated festivals and partnership networks
- A residency in Brecon, Wales, in March 2026
- Travel, accommodation and per diems are provided for both the residency and the performance tour
- Support with access to appropriate rehearsal and creation space
The associated festivals include:
- Surge Festival
Glasgow, Scotland, in partnership with Articulation - BD: Festival
Bradford, England, in partnership with Bradford Producing Hub - Spraoi International Street Arts Festival
Waterford, Ireland, in partnership with ISACS - Green Man Festival
Wales, in partnership with the Green Man Trust
Who this is for
This opportunity is for early-career performance makers and companies based in Bradford or that have a strong, demonstrable connection to the District, such as regularly making work here. While you don’t need to have made outdoor work previously, we expect applicants to have some experience of performance making for live audiences.
Applicant requirements:
- Your application will present a clear idea for a new small-scale outdoor arts performance piece, which can be static or walkabout.
- The piece needs to be for a solo or a duo of touring artists (all artists must be confirmed by the applicant before applying).
- The piece needs to be of a scale that is easily transportable.
- The piece needs to be suitable for performance or exhibition in both urban and green field spaces.
- The artists need to be available for the residency in Brecon between 8 to 11 March 2026.
- The artists must also be available for a certain number of weekday mentoring dates between March and July 2026 (exact dates to be agreed)
- To be available for dates of all four festivals:
- 24 – 25 July 2026 (BD Festival, Bradford, England)
- 25 – 26 July 2026 (Surge Festival, Glasgow, Scotland)
- 31 July – 2 August (Spraoi Festival, Waterford, Ireland)
- 19 – 23 August 2026 (Green Man Festival, Brecon, Wales)
The Four Nations Bursary Project values diversity and promotes equality and inclusion. We strongly encourage and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and abilities.
Please note that the scale and reach of this project are dependent on certain funding outcomes.
How to apply
We recommend interested applicants attend our online info session to learn more about this opportunity and how to make the most of your application. If you can’t attend the live session, you can register to receive a recording. If this session has passed and you would like to receive a link to the recording, please drop us an email to hello@bdproducinghub.co.uk
To apply, please email your proposal (max. 500 words) and a short bio for each performer/collaborator (max. 100 words each), together in one document to hello@bdproducinghub.co.uk. Please refer to the applicant requirements above when writing your proposal.
Applications close at midnight on Sunday 1 February 2026.
Decisions will be made by Monday 9 February 2026.
If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email hello@bdproducinghub.co.uk
Meet last year's Bradford Four Nations artist
Fran Bundey
In 2025, Fran Bundey was selected for the Four Nations Outdoor Arts Bursary to develop and tour her new walkabout performance, Charlotte Brontë: Senseless Trash.
"Wow, what an epic summer it's been! I am really proud of what I've made, and I've had some incredible feedback from audiences, some very moving feedback too. Thank you so much for choosing me and for trusting me to make this work. I really feel like it's the beginning of a change of course in my career, and that is so exciting!"
Charlotte Brontë: Senseless Trash is a 30-minute promenade show led by Fran herself and characterised as Charlotte Brontë. Located in urban and green field environments – audiences are transported on a phonic field trip over the Yorkshire Moors through performance, soundscapes and audio delivered through ‘silent disco’ style headsets. The show explores the modern-day struggles of identity and motherhood through the lens of Charlotte Brontë’s inspiring life and work. Mixing live sounds from the streets around them with field recordings from Yorkshire’s Brontë Country – audiences dodge angry sheep, step over imaginary stiles, hop over streams and of course… strut along to Destiny’s Child.
Fran told us that taking part in the Four Nations Outdoor Arts Bursary was “one of the most incredible summers of my life,” describing the experience as both transformative and career-shifting. She shared how valuable the residency, mentoring and multi-festival tour were in developing her confidence and strengthening the work, noting that audiences offered “incredible, very moving feedback,” including someone who told her it was “the best thing she’d seen all year.” Fran feels proud of what she has created and believes the bursary has opened “the beginning of a change of course in my career,” giving her the momentum to continue developing and touring the piece.
"I think the Four Nations programme is brilliant. The fact that you can get the opportunity based on just an idea with no previous experience of making outdoor work is very unique."
