Stage iT is Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festivals’ strand, made by young people, for young people in the region. We support young people aged 15-26, engaging them in performing arts industry experience, mentorship and performance opportunities. The strand is overseen by our Young Promoters Group, made of young people who are passionate about the performing arts.

If you’re a young person, based in Dumfries & Galloway, aged 15-26, you can benefit from Stage iT by:

• Attending our events using our Under 26 half price ticket discount
• Apply for our Support for Ambition and Commission opportunities to create new performances
• Gain industry experience by volunteering at our events
• Join our Young Promoters Group to curate and deliver our annual programmes with your peers

Under 26 Half-Price Tickets

If you are a young person below the age of 26, you can claim half-price tickets to all of our events. Do not miss the opportunity to see performances on your doorstep, by visiting our What’s On page, find an event to attend, click ‘Book Now’ and select the Half Price ticket option. Look out for our Stage iT events, marked in blue.

Support for Ambition and Commissions

If you are an artist/performer we have opportunities to support your practice and platform your work. Each year, we commission at least 12 young artists to create and revisit creative works to perform them as part of our annual Arts Festival in May, and our Arts Live seasons throughout the year.

Through the commissioning process, you will learn:

• How to follow a professional commission brief
• How to get your head around artist contracts
• How to invoice for an agreed commission fee
• How to promote yourself as an artist
• How to develop your creative idea into a piece that is ready for the stage

Key an eye on our Opportunities page for our next round of commission opportunities.

Chelsie Nash performing a new piece of work at the Arts Festival 2021  

Industry Experience

Are you a young person with a specific interest in an area of the events industry?

We create opportunities to shadow some of the best industry professionals at our year-round events, by providing industry opportunities. You could have the opportunity to film for live streams, work on the sound and lighting at a show, be given professional advice from a musician, actor, dancer, poet or comedian and learn how to produce an event from scratch.

We provide industry experience opportunities for our Young Promoters Group, however, if you want to gain experience but don’t want to join our group, just get in touch: stageit@dgartsfestival.org.uk

The Young Promoters Group

The group curate and deliver a programme of live and digital events each year, through our Arts Festival and Arts Live programmes. The group collaborate with our team and are involved in our events, from the conception of a creative idea, all the way through to running the event. They get to programme and produce events, gain technical and production experience, perform front of house duties and build new friendships. Members of our group can also gain skills that can be applied to other industries, including the development of social skills, team-working, organisation, effective writing and communications.

The group meet up once a month to discuss upcoming events and make programming decisions on what they want to programme in the region. Visit our JOIN US page to find out more and how you can join.