Young Creative Awards 2021 - Open for Entries

The 2021 Nottingham Young Creative Awards is now OPEN!

Young Creative Awards 2021 - Open for Entries

Have you ever dreamt of designing a dress for Beyoncé, having a book published or even a top 10 record? Past winners of Nottingham’s Young Creative Awards have done all of these things - and this year’s awards are now open

Entries are open to anyone aged 11 to 24 who lives, works or studies in Nottingham.  There are eleven different categories: Animation & Digital Media, Creative Writing,  Dance, Design & Architecture, Fashion & Textiles, Film, Graphic Design, Music,  Photography, Theatre and Visual Art.  

It’s free to enter, and with cash prizes and industry opportunities up for grabs,  entrants have got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Participants can conjure up something new to submit or show off existing work, including pieces they’ve done at school, college or university. 

How to apply

The Young Creative Awards is now OPEN for entries!

Open to 11-24 year-olds living, working or studying in Nottingham, the Young Creative Awards champions creativity, celebrating achievements across 11 categories:

Animation & Digital Media

Creative Writing

Dance

Design & Architecture

Fashion & Textiles

Film

Graphic Design

Music

Photography

Theatre

Visual Arts

To read the general YCA criteria, follow this link. 

To submit your entry you will need to register at the following link. It's very straightforward to do so:

Young Creative Awards 2021 - ENTER HERE

Winners will be 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 in Nottingham. As YCA 2019 Creative Writing winner 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."

To stream the Young Creative Awards 2020 Notts TV special, follow this link.

You have until the deadline on 21 April 2021 to submit your entry. Shortlisted finalists will be announced in early June. Winners will be announced a few weeks later.

About 

It’s a brilliant way for Nottingham’s young people to show off their talents, develop valuable contacts, and perhaps even to launch a creative career. Winners and finalists will have unique opportunities to take part in exhibitions and showcase events, and to take up work placements and mentoring opportunities with creative businesses in the city. 

18 year-old Sarah Mensah, from Sneinton, was one of more than 500 young people who entered the Young Creative Awards in 2020. Sarah went on to win the  Photography award (16-18 age group) for her beautiful set of studio portraits which explore issues of race and identity. 

Sarah said: “Winning the YCA 2020 as a young artist gave me recognition for my work, which led to my first televised interview and publication. This experience has  helped me develop confidence in my work, which has led me to work on various  creative projects with different organisations such as Nottingham Castle, further  developing my creativity and innovation as a young artist.” 

Last year’s Young Creative Awards were celebrated online and through a special one-hour special programme on Notts TV. Organisers are planning to build on last year’s successes this year and are hoping that exhibitions and events in city-centre venues, celebrating this year’s participants, will be possible in the autumn. 

The Young Creative Awards is run by registered charity Young Creatives Nottingham  and supported by a range of local partners across business, arts, health and 

education, including: Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, Dance4,  Nottingham CityCare Partnership, Nottingham Music Hub, Nottingham College,  Maber, Nottingham Trent University, Skeleton, Broadway, University of Nottingham,  Romo and Serif. 

Stacey Richards, Senior Human Resources Manager from one of this year’s headline sponsors, software firm Serif, added: “We’re really excited to be sponsoring the Nottingham Young Creative Awards for the second year running. Being in the creative industries, we know how important it is to support the creative community during challenging times like these, so we’re delighted to be a part of such a great event. The level of local talent we saw last year - despite the challenges of lockdown- was outstanding, and we have no doubt that this year’s entries will be just as impressive.”

Entries are open until 21 April 2021. To find out more go to  

www.youngcreativeawards.org.  

GOOD LUCK!

Header Image Credit: YCA

Author

Saskia Calliste

Saskia Calliste Voice Team

Saskia is the Deputy Editor of Voice and has worked on campaigns such as International Women’s Day, Black History Month, and Anti-Bullying Week. Outside of Voice, Saskia is a published author (Hairvolution) and has guest featured in various other publications (The Women Writers’ Handbook/ Cosmopolitan/ The Highlight). She has a BA in Creative Writing and Journalism and an MA in Publishing. She is a mentor for Women of the World Global, has guest lectured at the University of Roehampton and has led seminars/panel talks on Race, Equality and Diversity. She was a 2022 Guest Judge for Dave (TV Channel) in search of the 'Joke of the Fringe'. She is 27-years-old, based in London, and loves to cook and explore new places in her spare time.

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