Young Creative Awards Nottingham

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Young Creative Awards Nottingham

Celebrating the creative talent of young people in Nottingham. Enter now > youngcreativeawards.org Over 4,500 entries, more than 350 awards.

Since its inception in 2009, Nottingham’s Young Creative Awards has been an annual fixture in the city’s calendar: a big, bright burst of originality; inspiring, supporting and celebrating young creative talent in Nottingham. Run by Young Creatives Nottingham (registered charity number 1168804), the Young Creative Awards is open to 11-24 year-olds working, living or studying in Nottingham. The ann

ual initiative champions creativity, celebrating achievements in Architecture & Design, Dance, Music, Film, Animation & Digital Media, Fashion & Textiles, Graphic Design, Theatre, Photography and Visual Art. In 2021 nearly 600 young people entered the Young Creative Awards. Past winners of the Young Creative Awards include successful musicians Rob Green and Philip George, writer and performer Bridie Squires, embroidery designer Liss Cooke, acclaimed dancer Jamal Sterrett, social media star R-J Tulloch, and published author Rebecca Constable. To view the Hall of Fame go to www.youngcreativeawards.org. Winners are awarded cash prizes and promotion, as well as mentoring, work placements and professional development opportunities. Crucially, the Young Creative Awards provide recognition, encouragement and support for young people. As Andrew Tucker, Creative Writing winner in 2019, put it, the Young Creative Awards “assembles a sort of scaffolding when you’re doing something wobbly at a rickety sort of age. Someone somewhere doesn’t think you’re wasting your time: keep going.”

It is totally free to enter. Go to www.youngcreativeawards.org to find out more.

01/06/2026

The Young Creative Awards 2026 Design & Architecture winners were:

Dylan S (11-15)
Dylan's intricate model-making earned him an award for the second time! The judges said Dylan “...has displayed both inspiring creativity and a keen aptitude for physical model making.”

Alesha R (16-18)
Alesha's imaginative miniature of a city street impressed the judges with its consideration for colour, scale and texture. They said Alesha “...presents exceptional artistic flair and an impressive degree of detail and skill.”

Aylla G (19-24)
Judges were impressed by Aylla's string brief and use of materials and textures. They said “she imbues the work with a captivating level of depth in its play with light and shadow.”

The category was generously supported by Maber.

18/05/2026

The Young Creative Awards 2025 is happening THIS WEEK! We can't wait to welcome you all to Nottingham Playhouse and a brilliant exhibition of this year's shortlisted work, this year directly supported by Victoria Centre

Doors will be open from 4.30pm to view the exhibition, with the awards ceremony starting at 6pm.

Please be aware that there will be photographs taken at this event, if you do not wish to be shown in any photographs speak to someone at the ticket desk to opt out.

08/05/2026

The Young Creative Awards are all about creating pathways to creative work and learning, and none of that could be possible without our business and education partners.

Each category is supported and judged by professional creatives and educators from around the city. Each partner brings experience and opportunity to the young people of the city, and we couldn't be more grateful for their support.
There will be an opportunity to meet and network with our partners for our shortlisted entrants at our live awards show in a couple of weeks!

21/04/2026

Not long now until the Young Creative Awards 2026 rounds out with a bang! We're hard at work putting together an amazing evening showcase of talent whilst the judges finish their notes and put together this year's shortlist.

Invitations will be sent out soon to shortlisted entries and winners will be announced on the night. In the meantime, we will be announcing some of the guests who will be joining us on stage alongside our amazing partners and supporters. Watch this space!

18/03/2026

Submissions for the Young Creative Awards 2026 are now closed! Well done to all who submitted their projects this year, we can't wait to see what you've been working on.

Judging will begin this week, with ten category panels made up of industry professionals and educators from around the city poring over the amazing output of our young creative community.

Once a shortlist of potential winners has been created, entrants will be invited to attend and exhibit there work with us at the summer awards show. We'll see you there... good luck!

16/03/2026

Breaking news! The deadline for submissions for the Young Creative Awards 2026 has been extended until midnight on Tuesday the 17th of March.

That means there's still time to submit your art piece, project, or performance and be in with a chance to win at our live awards show this summer.

Head over to our website and hit that submit button now!

15/03/2026

Entries for the Young Creative Awards 2026 close at midnight tomorrow, so make sure to hit the submit button to be in with a chance to win!

Judging will begin during the following week, and shortlisted entrants will be contacted before the live awards show at the Nottingham Playhouse this summer.

The future needs creatives... creatives like you!

09/03/2026

Only seven days left to enter!

Submit your art piece, project, or performance to youngcreativeawards.org to be in with a chance to win at Nottingham's biggest celebration of creatuve talent. Kick start your career and have your work exhibited to partners, supporters, and VIPs at our summer awards show.

Find out more on our website and enter today!

08/03/2026

We’re incredibly excited to announce our next Young Creatives Network event! On Monday 23rd March, 6-8pm, you can expect an evening of networking and skills building for young creatives, hosted by and

Creative Freelance: Skills Share is a free event for young creatives and freelancers, delivered by Connecting Notts in partnership with Fisher Gate Point. Bringing together workshops, informal discussions, creative activities and live performance, the event offers a welcoming space to connect, share knowledge and meet others starting out in their creative careers.

Expect zine-making with Dana Ilinca, digital creative sessions with Ian Gardiner (using apple macs and adobe software) and informal group discussions exploring key topics such as funding project ideas with Tricia Gardiner, and managing multiple roles and avoiding burnout. Alongside this, there will be opportunities to connect socially, share experiences, and contribute ideas for future Connecting Notts/Young Creatives Network opportunities and events.

The evening will also feature ambient live music and a short sound bath performance, offering moments of pause and grounding. Visual work by local young creatives and information about creative opportunities across Nottingham will be showcased throughout the space.

Stay tuned for more announcements coming soon!

Event produced by

Tickets are free but limited so make sure to get yours soon so you don’t miss out!

🔗 Links will be in our bio

27/11/2025

Some frequently asked questions about entering the Young Creative Awards…

🫱 Can I enter more than one category?
Of course you can! You can enter multiple projects into multiple categories, but you cannot submit the same project across categories, or submit several projects to the same category.

🫱 Can I enter as a group?
Yes! Just make sure to enter once for the whole group and not multiple times for each member. As part of your entry you can list all the people in your group.

🫱 What age do I need to be to enter?
We have three age brackets for each category: 11-15, 16-18, and 19-24.

🫱 Can I enter if I live outside the city?
Unfortunately not, the YCAs is only open to those within the Nottingham Urban Area (find a full list of areas on our website). However if you work or study study in the city and have a college, university, or school email address you are also eligible to apply.

🫱 What if I don't know which category to enter?
Try to think about the other kinds of entries that could be entered into your category and the similarities or differences to your entry. You can always get in touch with us if you're unsure.

The Young Creative Awards 2026 is now open! Submit your entry through our website, find useful links to our website in our bio

Address

C/o Antenna Media Centre, 15 Beck Street
Nottingham
NG11EQ

Website

http://www.youngcreativeawards.org/

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