7 May 2026
The first member of the Rural Touring Awards panel has been announced.
Outdoor Arts’ David Doust will join a team of experts who will sift through nominations and help decide on the stars of the show.
The eagerly-awaited awards return to the NRTF conference for the first time in several years.
“Rural touring overcomes barriers for engagement in the arts…”
This June’s NRTF Conference at Wolverhampton Arts Centre sees the return of the Rural Touring Awards which will celebrate the very best people, projects and organisations shaping rural touring.
The awards will take place on the second evening of the conference – Wednesday 10 June.
We are delighted to announce David Doust as the first member of the judging panel. David is General Manager and environmental lead for OutdoorArtsUK. He is Chair of Arts by the Sea Festival and has previously worked with Activate and Gobbledegook Theatre.
David said: “I’m very pleased to join the panel. Rural touring helps overcome a lot of the barriers to engaging in arts and culture for people that live outside of cities and major towns by bringing work to them.
“I live in rural Somerset and Take Art’s programme allows me to enjoy performance locally without having to travel miles or think about booking overnight accommodation.
“Alongside this, I grew up in Dorset and the work that ArtsReach brought to the county helped me discover and connect with villages and towns I’d never visited before, whilst also giving me the opportunity to see high quality performance at affordable prices.”
Rural Touring Awards nominations are open across the period 2023-2026. Categories include Connection, Newcomer, Green Champion, Volunteer Promoter, Creative Communication, Access Champion and Community Impact. Nominations can be made for individuals or organisations, and self-nominations are welcome. The deadline is 18 May.
The 30th edition of National Rural Touring Forum’s flagship Conference comes to the heart of England from 9-11 June. TICKETS are available HERE.