Written by Jazz North has announced the latest round of New Northern, its promoter bursary scheme supporting live emerging talent across the north of England, and for the first time this year it comes with a meaningful expansion I would like to see other regional agencies across Europe take note of.
New Northern exists to help northern promoters programme emerging artists by underwriting some of the financial risk involved and covering essential costs. It has always been a small, easy-access scheme rather than a major funding pot, but that has arguably been its strength — quick, practical support aimed squarely at the grassroots level where risk is felt hardest. This round, individual promoters can apply for bursaries of up to £1,000. New for 2026, and in direct response to the funding pressures currently facing the sector, Jazz North has also ringfenced a separate, limited budget of up to £3,000 specifically for northern jazz festivals.
Previous recipient, Parr Jazz, run New Northern supported event Mutant Jazz at Metrocola in September 2023 © Milli @florintein
Chris Bye, Jazz North’s CEO, put the reasoning plainly: “Funding pressures, rising costs, being asked to do more with less… the word ‘challenging’ doesn’t come close to how things are right now.” In response, he said, New Northern is being doubled in size this year and opened up to festivals for the first time.
I think this matters more than a modest bursary increase might suggest on the surface. Festivals across the jazz world, not just in the UK, are operating under real strain at the moment — rising costs, tighter public funding, audiences that need more convincing to part with ticket money than they once did. A scheme that recognises festivals as needing the same kind of quick, practical intervention as individual promoters, rather than treating them as bigger organisations that can simply absorb the pressure, is a sensible piece of policy. It is exactly the kind of targeted, low-friction support that tends to get overlooked in favour of larger, slower-moving funding programmes.
Juliana and Manon
Last year’s round of New Northern supported Lancaster Jazz Festival, Brume, Stockport Jazz, The Badness Centre and Hull Jazz. The feedback from that group is worth noting. Dave Ellis of Hull Jazz credited the funding as vital to keeping the organisation as a consistent provider of regular live jazz in the city, while Paul Hartley of Stockport Jazz said the support had allowed the organisation to diversify its programming, raise its regional profile and build links with similar organisations both locally and further afield. That is precisely what a scheme like this should be doing — not simply covering a gap for one season, but helping build the kind of organisational resilience and reach that lasts beyond it.
I have long felt that the northern English jazz scene is under-resourced relative to its actual output and audience, and Jazz North has consistently been one of the more effective advocates for addressing that imbalance since its founding in 2012, working with backing from Arts Council England. Schemes like New Northern are a large part of why. I would genuinely like to see similar models adopted more widely across Europe — regional agencies stepping in with modest, fast-moving support aimed specifically at the promoters and festivals doing the unglamorous work of keeping live jazz accessible at a local level, rather than only the larger institutions with the resources to navigate more complex funding applications.
New Northern is open for applications until midday on Monday 3 August 2026. Full details and the application form are available at The Jazznorth Website.
Last modified: July 1, 2026
