We’re delighted to announce that the 2026 edition of the National Festival of Youth Theatre, taking place from Friday 3 – Monday 6 July 2026, is now on sale!
About the National Festival of Youth Theatre
Every two years, NFYT creates an explosion of young creative talent, enabling young people to discover and celebrate a shared passion, offering them the opportunity to develop as artists, leaders, audience members and creative thinkers. With an emphasis on inclusion, education and collaboration, NFYT aims to remove barriers, teach valuable life skills and provide extraordinary new experiences.
We also have a brand new host venue, so next summer we’re looking forward to welcoming everyone to…
A new home for NFYT
That’s right, in 2026, we look forward to welcoming youth theatre groups from across Scotland and further afield to Inverness, where the festival will be delivered with our partners at Eden Court! The private festival campsite will be situated in the grounds of the nearby Northern Meeting Park.
The event will include programmed shows as well as artistic workshops, social events, a final-night wrap party, and of course, festival camping! Your youth theatre group doesn’t have to perform in order to take part: NFYT always welcomes non-performing groups and audiences who choose to enjoy what the festival has to offer without the pressure of staging a show.
Each morning, after spending the night at our festival campsite, participants will be able to take a short walk across the road to the home of NFYT, Eden Court. This is where we’ll watch and perform in shows, and where all meals will be served.
Who’s performing?
Our NFYT performance programme is one of the highlights of the festival, and this year we turned over the producing aspects to our Young Leaders! Youth voice is truly front and centre this year, and we couldn’t be happier with how it’s all panning out.
Our Young Producers read through all of the show applications we received by February’s deadline. They discussed, debated, debated some more, and voted on the shows from across the country that will join us at Eden Court. So what will we all be watching together in July? Here’s the line-up…
The Outsider: Bute Youth Theatre
Enter Chaos: Eden Court Young Company
Brainstorm: Solar Bear
The Witch Show: Young Quines
Doomscrolling: Firefly
Heart of the Storm: Strange Town
Midnight Library: Macrobert
Information Session and Creative Exchange
Are you ready to bring your group to #NFYT2026 in July? Let us help you prepare for the event of the year and make sure you have all the information you need to sign up before festival bookings close in April (or February, if you want to bring a show).
We hosted an open Information Session and Creative Exchange in January for youth theatre leaders who are interested in offering NFYT as an opportunity for their group, whether they want to perform a show, attend without a show, or visit for one day. Catch up on this session below. The video is captioned and BSL interpreted.
What does NFYT look like?
NFYT was established by Youth Theatre Arts Scotland in 2004 as the UK’s largest gathering of youth theatres. It usually welcomes around 200 participants representing around 15 different youth theatres from across Scotland and often from further afield.
Are you interested in bringing a group to #NFYT2026? Make sure you check out our pages from previous festivals to get an idea of what to expect. Check out the information packs below, or the pictures and videos on our 2024 and 2022pages, to get a flavour of the event.
NFYT Access Bursaries
Thanks to the generous support of our funders, we are once again able to offer Access Bursaries for the National Festival of Youth Theatre 2026. For more details on eligibility and applications, see the information packs below, or visit our grant-making pages.
Acknowledgements
NFYT 2026 is produced by Youth Theatre Arts Scotland in partnership with Eden Court Highlands and Highland Council.
Youth Theatre Arts Scotland gratefully acknowledges core funding from Creative Scotland, as well as additional funding for this event kindly provided by Inverness Common Good Fund, Silverhill Trust, Birkdale Trust for the Hearing Impaired, The Arts Society, William Syson Foundation, The Misses Barrie Charitable Trust, and James T Howat Charitable Trust.
YTAS also thanks Actiph Water and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society for their generous support.