Partnership Opportunity
Partnership will be fundamental to how Lerwick 28 is developed and delivered. We want to strengthen, connect and amplify the organisations, festivals, artists, communities and networks that already make culture happen in Lerwick and across Shetland, while creating new relationships across the UK and internationally.
We are inviting organisations, networks, groups, institutions and potential collaborators to tell us how we could work together. This is a light-touch Expression of Interest, not a full partnership agreement. At this stage we want to understand the shared opportunity: what you could bring, what you would hope to gain, who could benefit, if funding is required and what might last beyond 2028.
The partnership call opens on 16 September 2026 and closes on 16 October 2026.
What we mean by Partnership
We are looking for partnership, not transaction. The strongest relationships will be built around shared ambition rather than a simple exchange of money or services. Partners should help shape activity and there should be a clear benefit on both sides.
Lerwick 28 will not create a parallel cultural infrastructure or replace activity that already exists. Locally, our first question will be how Lerwick 28 can help existing organisations and communities achieve things they could not achieve alone. Nationally and internationally, partnerships must create a route both into and out of Shetland.
We want partnerships to contribute not only to a successful 2028 programme, but to stronger cultural relationships through to 2038.
Partnership across the three Chapters
Partnerships may connect with one or more of the three Chapters of Lerwick 28:
- Chapter One: Inspiration | January-April
Ideas, encounters, learning, exploration, skills and new creative relationships.
- Chapter Two: Play | May-August
Participation, experimentation, visibility, spectacle and using Lerwick differently.
- Chapter Three: Launch | September-December
Culmination, outward reach, touring, broadcast, exchange and the bridge from 2028 towards 2038.
You do not need to force your partnership into a particular Chapter at Expression of Interest stage. If there is a natural fit, tell us.
Who can apply
Route One: Shetland partnerships
Shetland already has a distinctive and active cultural ecology. Lerwick 28 wants to work through it, not around it.
This route is for cultural organisations, festivals, independent artists and makers, community organisations, voluntary groups, schools and education providers, businesses, public bodies, heritage organisations, venues and other Shetland-based partners whose work could contribute to Lerwick 28.
We do not assume that every partner wants to scale up. Success might mean deeper participation, better accessibility, a new idea, greater resilience, stronger skills, new audiences or a relationship that was not previously possible.
Route Two: UK and International partnerships
This route is for cultural institutions, broadcasters, producers, festivals, networks, educational organisations, platforms and other potential partners based elsewhere in the UK or internationally.
We want relationships that place Lerwick within wider cultural life while creating new opportunities for Shetland artists, organisations, communities and young people.
These partnerships must do more than bring activity into Shetland. They must create an outward route too, through reciprocal exchange and/or broadcast, digital distribution, touring, presentation, publishing or another meaningful way of taking Shetland-created culture and stories to audiences elsewhere.
Before you apply: talk to us
You are welcome to arrange a short, informal conversation with Graeme Howell, Lerwick 28 Bid Director, before submitting a partnership Expression of Interest.
The conversation can be used to clarify the partnership opportunity, discuss whether the local or UK / International route is the right one, or explore whether your initial idea appears to fit the ambitions of Lerwick 28. It is not part of the assessment process and will not give an applicant an advantage. We cannot develop or write your proposal for you.
To arrange a conversation, email martine.hall@shetlandamenity.org.
If the online form is not accessible to you, please use the same email address or ring 01595 743843 and request a callback to discuss an alternative way to submit.
Partnership or commission?
A partnership is built around shared objectives, mutual contribution and benefit on both sides. A commission is a defined, funded and contractual opportunity to create and deliver work against an agreed brief.
Partnerships can include co-commissioning or new creative work, but if your main proposition is to seek a Lerwick 28 commission to produce and deliver a defined piece of work, please use the Commissions route instead.
Expression of Interest
If you have a partnership idea, complete the appropriate Lerwick 28 Partnership Expression of Interest by 16 October 2026.
Apply for Route One: Shetland Partnership
Apply for Route Two: UK & International Partnership
Filed under: Opportunity