12 August 2026
We Out Here Festival has announced the next edition of its longstanding partnership with youth-led, grassroots organisation The RISE Collective for this year’s event. RISE supports young people, especially those excluded from opportunity and under-represented in many sectors, to grow as people, creatives, activists, producers, journalists, hosts, facilitators and community leaders, in a safe, creative space. It is rooted in the belief that young people deserve space, visibility and influence in the places where decisions are made, and culture is shaped.
Having first welcomed RISE to capture content three years ago, growing the partnership year-on-year, We Out Here 2026 will see them return on a larger scale, this time partnering with innovative contemporary culture magazine and platform NOTION, whose shared mission for supporting emerging talent will see them collaborate on a series of artist interviews, festival photography and media workshops that will give invaluable experience to their team of budding creatives. The crew RISE will bring to We Out Here Festival are a collective of young people, creating non-traditional pathways into media and challenging the status quo of journalism through varied methods of storytelling, from live podcasts to radio shows, drag and live performances and more.
Speaking on the partnership, We Out Here’s Head of Marketing Josh Aitman says:
“We are delighted to be welcoming The RISE Collective back to We Out Here 2026. Their work is hugely important and aligns with our values of creating opportunities across the board, for creatives who aspire to work both in front and behind the curtain of the creative and music industries. The partnership cements our commitment to creating opportunities in the scene on all levels and we can’t wait to collaborate with their talented and passionate team and welcome NOTION into the fold to amplify Rise Collective and their 2026 cohort.
Speaking on RISE’s mission, member of their Press Team Rouxben Burroughs says:
“Creativity is a powerful tool. It’s a place to escape, explore, dance, connect, and express. It can be used to silence and censor, as well as galvanise and truth-tell. RISE is deeply intentional; in the context of art and activism, this approach is what I believe shifts creative energy towards something that drives material change.”
