Open Call for Mixer Event Hosts

Deadline: Monday 21st September 2026, 11am

CKA mixer events are social events centered around a creative activity or experience. They provide a space for participants to get to know one another, as well as an opportunity for hosts to share their work and skills.

You can see examples of previous mixer events here.

We’re open to all kinds of ideas – the activity itself can be simple, experimental or unusual, provided it gives people something to do together and creates opportunities for conversation.

We are looking for events which are:

• Creative: We want sessions to centre around an engaging creative activity or experience – something that is easy to pick up in a relatively short session and doesn’t require any prior knowledge or experience. We’re open to all kinds of creative approaches and disciplines; the activity doesn’t need to result in a finished piece of work, but should give people something interesting to explore, make, try or experience together.
• Social: Mixers are as much about meeting other people as they are about the activity itself. We’re particularly interested in ideas where conversation and interaction can happen naturally as part of the session, rather than feeling like a separate networking exercise. Please tell us how your activity will help people get to know one another and how you will facilitate or encourage conversation during the event.
• Inclusive: We want mixers to feel welcoming and accessible. Please think about what might make it easier or harder for someone to take part – this could include physical and sensory access, neurodiversity, transport, the materials or equipment involved, prior experience, or how confident someone might feel joining a group where they don’t know anyone. We don’t expect every event to remove every possible barrier, but we’d like to see that accessibility and inclusion have been considered in the way the session is designed.

We are looking to fund a geographical spread of events, as well as a variety of creative disciplines. We appreciate that this is something you have little control over as an applicant. Where we receive several strong proposals that are very similar, we may place some on a reserve list and revisit them for a future programme.

A total budget of £300 is available for each event, which should cover the host fee, materials and venue hire (if required). Please bear this in mind when planning your idea.

Your event can take place in your own space or in a hired venue. The activity or experience should last no more than two hours, and the event should be able to accommodate at least 10 participants. It should be open to creative and cultural practitioners from any discipline, with no prior knowledge or experience required to take part.

The event does not need to have been designed especially for this open call – you are welcome to submit a session you have run before, as long as it fits the criteria above. If you do design something especially for the opportunity, the intellectual property remains with you, and you are very welcome (even encouraged!) to run the event again outside CKA.

CKA will manage the marketing and ticketing for every event. We are looking to fund four mixers between November 2026 and March 2027. There is plenty of flexibility around dates, which will be agreed with the CKA team upon selection, although we will aim to spread the four events relatively evenly across the five-month period.

You can host one CKA mixer event per year, and you need to be a CKA member to apply for this opportunity. Membership starts at £5/month and you can sign up and cancel at any time.

Please apply via the form below.

Deadline: 11am on Monday 21st September 2026

We hope to select and inform everyone of the outcome within three weeks of the deadline.

If you have any difficulties completing the form or have any questions, please contact us at associates@creativekernow.org.uk.

Top image of session led by Rachael Jones and Kitty Hillier, middle image of session by Robin Paris, both 2025.