We’re excited to share the brilliant speakers and fascinating topics we’ll be exploring at the Family Arts Conference 2026.
Join us for the UK’s largest family arts and culture on Thursday 12th February 2026 at Northern Stage, Newcastle.
Designed for those working in the cultural sector, with a focus on family engagement, and wider inclusive practice you will:
- Learn about the latest research and insights to find ways to develop your access and inclusion work
- Connect with fellow family arts enthusiasts and develop your partnerships with key delegates from across the country
- Be inspired and energised by ways your work can and will make a difference, with practical examples helping you put ideas into action
As well as attending energising keynotes, we will provide a mix of break-out sessions including workshops, panels and discussions throughout the day. To help choose the right break-out, we’ve introduced six session tags:
- 🧭 Strategic – shaping vision, policy, or direction.
- 🎨 Creative – developing ideas, content, or artistic approaches.
- 🛠️ Practical – hands-on tools, case studies, and actionable takeaways.
- 💭 Reflective – listen, think big, and explore ideas.
- 🤝 Collaborative – discuss, share, and problem-solve with others.
- 🧠 Insightful – evidence, evaluation, and data-informed learning.
Look out for these tags to help you decide which session might suit you best.
So what can you expect in this year’s programme? Scroll down to discover the keynote presentations, panel discussions, workshops, and more…
The day will begin at 10.30 for registration, with our opening keynote kicking off the day at 11:15. The event will end at 5.30pm. A detailed schedule will be shared with delegates soon.
Keynote 1:
Kicking off the day with an inspiring welcome from our Executive Director, Anna Dever, who will set the stage and share her vision for the day ahead.
Then we’ll dive straight into our first keynote with the incredible Tobi Kyeremateng — a powerhouse storyteller and producer. Tobi’s opening address will ignite the room, bringing our theme, ‘Changemakers & Storytellers’, vividly to life and setting an energising tone for the conference.
Through reflections on everyday creativity, what it really means to be a changemaker, and why access to the arts matters now more than ever, Tobi will inspire us to think differently about the stories we tell and the change we can make together.
Choose a breakout session:
Led by Youth Music and Soundabout
In this session, co-facilitators from Youth Music and Soundabout will share insights from the Excluded by Design research, exploring how creative programmes for Disabled children and young people can be more inclusive, sustained, and progressive. Through examples of best practice and interactive activities, participants will be invited to reflect on their own work and consider practical ways to embed inclusive approaches.
More information to follow.
Chaired by: Elaine Grant, Elaine Grant Creative Consulting
Jude Darwich, International Rescue Committee, Brad McCormick, Cap-a-Pie, Kelly Amoss, Seaglass Collective
This panel brings together practitioners to explore how family arts can foster healing and belonging, engaging with challenges such as global conflict, climate change, and intergenerational trauma.
Led by:
Caroline McCormick, Achates
Led by Achates, this workshop guides participants in creating resilient, sustainable changemaking models. Focusing on understanding the work you want to create, the audiences you want to engage, and the change you aim to enable, Achates shows how these elements form the foundation of an effective business model, unlocking income opportunities with integrity.
Session sponsored by Achates.
Keynote 2:
Join us as we celebrate the winners of the Fantastic for Families Awards 2025. This session will introduce this year’s award recipients, share examples of inspiring projects, and highlight best practice from across the sector. A chance to recognise achievement, learn from others, and take inspiration from the fantastic work happening with families nationwide.
Led by Sarah Bird, Regional Lead, National Year of Reading – North
To celebrate 2026 as the National Year of Reading, the National Literacy Trust will lead this keynote exploring how reading can inspire, connect, and empower young people and families. The session will highlight the importance of literacy, storytelling, and imagination in nurturing creativity and supporting children’s learning.
Beginning with a creative reading, the keynote will showcase the aims of the National Year of Reading, share practical ideas to help families get involved, and conclude with interactive activities designed to motivate delegates to champion reading throughout the year ahead.
Choose a breakout session:
Chaired by: Anna Dever, Family Arts Campaign
Bhavik Parmar, Sampad, Yun Perez, Northern Stage
Exploring storytelling as a shared act of creation in family arts. The session will bring together voices reflecting on co-creation, partnership, and governance, all through the lens of inclusion and shared ownership.
Led by Bertha Ochieng, Principal Investigator, Talent25 & Professor of Integrated Health and Social Care, De Montford University
Join the Talent25 research team as they share insights from their study into how sustained engagement in the arts can shape the lives of families. The session will explore how multi-year research reveals powerful stories of change within communities, offering practical approaches to mapping this change over the long-term and engaging families from the early years onwards.
Led by Danyah Miller
Oral storytelling lies at the heart of literacy and learning. In this interactive workshop, we’ll consider a range of storytelling genres, whilst focusing on the power and playfulness of Spontaneous Storytelling. Through simple, fun techniques and games, we’ll make up some tales on the spot, sparking creativity in order to connect with any audience. Ideal for those looking to develop storytelling skills in purposeful and intentional ways.
More information to follow.
Choose a breakout session:
Chaired by Zoe Dennington, OpenCity
Join our panellists to explore how place can be more than just a backdrop—how it can actively shape the way we build connection, inclusion, and social change. They will share inspiring examples of partnering with existing schemes, launching new initiatives, and collaborating with communities to co-create vibrant, meaningful projects in their spaces.
More speakers to be announced.
Chaired by: Farrell Renowden, Founder, Age Friendly Culture CIC
What does an age-friendly cultural ecosystem look like? Chaired by Farrell Renowden, Founder of Age Friendly Culture CIC, this panel will draw on the experiences of older people as both participants and creators. The discussion will challenge the assumption that “emerging” means “young,” examine the support needed by older artists facing precarious work, caring responsibilities or digital barriers, and highlight how we can expand cultural pathways for isolated older audiences. With a focus on inclusive, diverse marketing and intergenerational creativity, the panel will set out a shared vision for a culture of age-friendly culture.
More speakers to be announced.
Led by Jude Darwich, International Rescue Committee
This introductory session offers a snapshot of how organisations can better support refugee children and young people affected by crisis and displacement. Participants will explore the impact of trauma and toxic stress, discover practical ways to foster safety and resilience, and learn simple strategies for embedding community-building into everyday activities.
Keynote 3:
Closing the Conference with an inspiring address from sector leaders reflecting on the day’s discussions and looking ahead to the future of family arts. This session will highlight key opportunities, priorities, and calls to action, leaving delegates motivated and ready to take ideas back to their own work.
The Conference ends at 5.30pm with the option to join the Family Arts Campaign Team at the Northern Stage bar.
Please note, you do not need to book your sessions in advance – you can decide on the day
Northern Stage, 12 February 2026
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Accessibility
The Venue
We are delighted to be hosting our event at Northern Stage; a fully accessible venue committed to offering a welcoming experience for all visitors. For full access details, including virtual tours and what to expect, visit Northern Stage’s website.
Family Arts Conference will take place across multiple spaces in the building:
- Stage 1 – Main conference space, used for keynotes and large breakout sessions
- Stage 2 – Breakout space
- Stage 3 – Breakout space
- Mezzanine – Creative Marketplace
- Cafe/Bar – Registration and catering
The Programme
We want to ensure the conference is accessible for everyone and we’ll be releasing a detailed conference programme in due course. To enable you to book with confidence, we’ll be including the following in our conference programme:
- A quiet space, available to all delegates at any point during the conference.
- A multi-faith reflection space, available to all delegates at any point during the conference.
- A Creative Marketplace, with a range of self-led creative activities on offer, available to all delegates from lunch onwards.
- A variety of large group presentation style and smaller participatory style breakouts to choose from.
- Regular breaks throughout the programme schedule which include a catered lunch as well as tea, coffee and refreshments throughout the day.
We are committed to providing bespoke support for accessibility requirements wherever possible. This could be anything from a BSL interpreter or hearing loop provision, a water bowl for your guide dog or sending you a photo of a named member of the team who you can locate on the day for any support you may need. When booking online, there’s the option to tell us about any access needs you may have, but if you would like to discuss your needs with us in person, or have any access questions please email Willow Bowen, Programme Manager at Family Arts Campaign on willow.bowen@familyarts.co.uk.
Our Sponsors:
Art Fund is the national charity for UK museums, galleries and historic houses. For over 120 years, Art Fund has helped museums and galleries across the UK to develop and share collections, invest in people and expertise, and grow audiences.
Creu Cymru is a nationwide network that connects and champions Wales’ performing arts. They bring together theatres, arts centres, producing companies, and creative professionals to share ideas, learn from one another, and celebrate the power of performance to connect people and communities.
Image credits:
Image 1 – Family Arts Conference 2024
Image 2 – Family Arts Leadership Symposium 2025, photography by Lloyd Evans
Image 3 – Arts Trust Productions, Summer in the Park, photography by Roswitha Chather