Emerge

The Mighty Creatives

Grantholder

A project delivering a series of youth verbal arts festivals across the Midlands – for young people, by young people in collaboration with young artists

£1,000,000

Grant amount

April 2016

Date awarded

June 2016 – May 2019

Project duration

East Midlands / West Midlands

Location

Download: Emerge Final Report

Project Detail

Emerge was a three-year programme of verbal arts festivals delivered by The Mighty Creatives. Working across 12 Midlands localities, it enabled children and young people to co-create their own place-based arts festivals. The festivals were initially inspired by Shakespeare (the project launched on the 400^th anniversary of his death) but later shaped by local interests.

The Mighty Creatives, an Arts Council England’s Bridge Organisation for the East Midlands, worked in partnership with UK Young Artists and Arts Connect to deliver Emerge. They also worked in schools, youth settings and practitioners to run ‘labs’, with teenagers developing their own festival concepts and content under the tutelage of a young artist.

Through these lab sessions, led by emerging artists, young people took part in creative workshops, developed festival content, and showcased their work to their communities. The programme placed strong emphasis on youth leadership, inclusion, and community connection, engaging over 6,000 young people across its three phases.

Impact & Learning

Key Achievements

Increased wellbeing and confidence: Participants reported improvements in happiness, self-confidence, motivation, and feeling that their actions were worthwhile.
Greater community connection: Engagement with the local community rose from 60% to 84% among Lab participants; many felt proud of contributing to their local area.

Authentic youth-led festivals: Young people shaped festival themes and content, resulting in diverse and creatively ambitious events that reflected their ideas and voices.
Inclusive participation: All Year 3 Labs included disabled and non-disabled young people, with artists developing accessible and adaptive workshop approaches.
Workforce development for emerging artists: Artists gained communication, planning, negotiation and festival-delivery skills, strengthening their professional resilience and widening future career pathways.
Strengthened partnerships and place shaping: The programme established new community relationships, raised the profile of arts in each locality, and encouraged partners to pursue future festival activity and funding.

The project also contributed to cultural education and the arts infrastructure in underserved areas: by building local capacity, fostering youth agency, and strengthening partnerships (schools, community organisations, cultural educators

Key Learning

Youth Ownership and Leadership Matters
- Young people leading the design and delivery of the festivals (through Labs) was central to the project’s success. Their decisions shaped festival content, structure, and themes.
- When young people have ownership, they are more invested, motivated, and connected to their local community.
Sustained Support Over Multiple Years Is More Effective
- A three-year model gave time for relationships to build, for returning participants to grow in confidence, and for emerging artists to deepen their practice.
- Multi-year funding made it possible to leave a legacy – skilled young people, strengthened cultural networks, and a template for future festivals in localities.
Arts Festivals Can Drive Place-Shaping
- Festivals like Emerge can contribute to cultural regeneration, not just entertainment. In Cannock, the festival was used as a testbed for wider town-centre regeneration efforts.
- Working with local partners (schools, youth organisations, councils) is essential to anchor the festivals in their place and to make them locally relevant.
One strong Lab per locality is more effective: Community-based Labs found recruitment and retention more challenging – focusing resources on a single Lab can increase impact and coherence.
Inclusive delivery requires intentional design: Mixed-ability participation is possible but requires clear guidance, adequate resources, and must provide solutions for access barriers such as travel and specialist support.
Clear roles and stronger support structures are essential: Artists valued freedom and growth but sought more clarity on responsibilities and more consistent mentoring or producer support.
Quality frameworks would enhance outcomes: Artists highlighted the need for shared criteria to ensure high-quality artistic content and engagement across all labs.
Broad artistic festival themes are beneficial: Expanding beyond the initial focus on Shakespeare and allowing young people to respond to local needs enabled the Labs to reflect local identity and heritage and gave the programme the potential to act as a catalyst for future place-shaping activity.

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