Factory International artist development opportunities

Artist Takeover gives dance directors Aviva Studios' vast south warehouse to work in. This shows a rehearsal for Company Chameleon's Deep Flow, which involved local people. Pic: Rhys Alexander Faga

Manchester-based Factory International is offering a range of creative opportunities for artists across the north of England.

This season’s open calls include Artist Takeover, which invites artists or collectives to experiment at scale at Factory's Aviva Studios; Factory Sounds, an annual programme for emerging musicians and producers in Greater Manchester, and the return of Factory Fellowship, a nine-month residency supporting deeper artistic development.

Artists supported through previous programmes have gone on to be commissioned for major new work by the BBC, BFI, Sky Arts, Whitworth Art Gallery, and Manchester International Festival, taken up international residencies including Venice Biennale, Guildhall School of Music, Nederlands Theater Festival and the Old Vic, and built lasting professional collaborations with organisations such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, the V&A, HOME Manchester, and Manchester City of Literature.

Factory's artistic director and CEO John McGrath said: “These programmes are designed to empower northern creatives to dream big. We want artists to feel they can make bold work on their own terms.”

Artist Takeover - focused on dance and movement - will offer an artist or collective from the north the opportunity to take over Aviva's vast south warehouse in February 2026. The organisation is looking for collectives of movement artists, choreographers and dancers to experiment and expand their creative practice. Artists will receive the time, space and support to experiment at a scale not possible elsewhere.

Factory Sounds applications will open on October 22, and the 2026 edition will offer 15 early-career musicians or producers £1,000 financial support to realise a creative idea or development goal; opportunities to perform and share work; mentorship, workshops and access to a new recording studio in Co-op Live, engineered by Abbey Road Studios.

In March 2026, artists will be invited to apply for the Factory Fellowship, a nine-month programme for six artists from the North. Fellows will receive mentoring, coaching and support while engaging with the creative teams behind some of the large-scale productions taking place at Aviva. The programme includes access to a network of industry professionals.

More info and application details here