New creative careers festival for young people to take place in Bristol this month

An exciting new creative careers festival - VIABLE - takes place on 24 October, and the city's young people are encouraged to come along and find out about the opportunities available to them.

This month, Creative Youth Network will bring young people aged 14-25 and a huge range of creatives from across the Bristol and surrounding region together in a major new Creative Careers Festival, VIABLE.

On Thursday 24 October from 3 to 7pm, VIABLE will run across Creative Youth Network’s two sister sites in central Bristol: The Courts is a brand-new enterprise hub for young creatives and creative businesses, forged from the old magistrates’ courts on Bridewell Street and connected to the established youth centre, The Station.

Kate Webb, Head of Creative at Creative Youth Network said: "With this careers festival we want to show young people who might never have thought about working in the creative industries that a job in the UK’s fastest growing employment sector is VIABLE, and demonstrate the huge range of training, education and employment opportunities in our vibrant region."

VIABLE is part of Bristol City Council’s Post-16 programme HYPE (Helping Young People Excel), a consortium of Bristol organisations working to support young people with education, employment and training. This is funded by the West of England Combined Authority as part of the Mayoral Priority Skills Fund (MPSF), and part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). The latest Office for National Statistics figures show that 872,000 16 to 24-year-olds are now out of work, education or training across the UK. This is nearly a quarter of a million more young people (228,000) than three years ago, when rates were at their lowest (Youth Futures Foundation, August 2024). WECA, Bristol City Council, Creative Youth Network and partners are working to address this by providing opportunities for young people to explore different career pathways.

Image: Viable Festival

VIABLE is being curated to provide young people aged 14-25 with information, advice & guidance about creative careers, education and training across our region. More information and free tickets are available at: https://www.creativeyouthnetwork.org.uk/viable-creative-careers-festival-2024. 

The programme includes: 

• Engaging, interactive workshops: acting, voiceover, web design, branding, networking and much more
• Talks from young creatives about how they got their creative role
• Inspiring speakers who have overcome obstacles, forged their own path and achieved their dreams of becoming influential leaders in the creative sector
• Exhibitions and performances from regional creative organisations
• Information, advice and guidance on courses, apprenticeships and training from regional schools, colleges, universities and training providers.

Featuring:

• Tom Brereton Downs, Founder of Make Happen Institute - the joy of making original stuff
• Kate Gorringe, Executive Creative Director of Mr. B and Friends brand & design agency - how to make it as a woman in the creative sector
• Samir Savant, CEO of St. George’s - overcoming challenges as an LGBTQ+ person of colour in the creative industries
• Creative Lives in Progress, London - successful networking for beginners
• Neil Sims, CEO of Oakwood Agency - preparing to land your dream job in the creative sector
• Adam Millbank, Millbank Jones / Ninetree Studios – beyond limitations: what you can do if you open your eyes

VIP guests include Councillor Andrew Varney, Lord Mayor of Bristol, and Stephen Bashford, Strategic Director of Economy & Skills for WECA.

• Access Creative College
• Animinspo
• Attic Attack Recording Studios
• Bath City Farm
• Bath College
• Bath Spa University
• Bath Theatre Academy
• Boomsatsuma
• Bottleyard Studios
• Bristol Creative Industries
• Bristol Museums
• Bristol Old Vic
• Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
• Catch 22 Tik Tok Creative Academy
• Circomedia
• DbS Insitute
• Fiasco Design
• Halo
• Into Film
• Martin Parr Foundation
• Muti Live
• Ocean Generation
• RWA
• Screenology Film School
• Skills Connect
• St. Brendan’s 6th Form College
• Studio Yatta
• Superculture
• The Collaborators
• UWE