Artist Support

Highlights is keen to support artists to find out more about rural touring and the part it plays in the wider arts ecology. We do this through a mix of informal conversations with artists as well as collaborations with regional, national and international partners.

Rural Touring Dance Initiative

The Rural Touring Dance Initiative (RTDI) is a national project which supports dance artists & rural promoters to make great dance performance events happen in rural spaces.

Highlights is a lead partner on the project, alongside The Place, NRTF, Take Art and Sonia Sabri Company.

Highlights hosts one of three regional RTDI coordinators for the project, which has enabled us to bring more high quality dance to our network of village halls and market town venues in the north of England and Scotland, from Cheshire to Aberdeenshire.

A group of five dancers perform in a village hall. They are all wearing white, with strong uplighting that picks them out in the darkness. They are all performing the same action, with their left legs forwards, bodies tilted over, heads down, and arms at their side in the action of sweeping them forwards.

International Artists

A woman in her early thirties is playing guitar on a stage. She wears a sea green blouse and holds an acoustic guitar. As she looks down at the fretboard, her dark hair falls over her right eye.

International artists make up a small but essential part of the Highlights programme. We have been presenting Canadian artists since 2001 thanks to relationships with Atlantic Presenters Association, Music PEI and Canadian Folk Music Awards.

Recently, Highlights have coordinated national tours for artists such as Sarah Hagan, Diyet and the Love Soldiers, Duane Forrest, Rum Ragged and Christine Tassan et Les Imposteures.

Sound Roots

We’re delighted to support folk, roots and acoustic musicians in a new collaboration with Sound Roots.

The Sound Roots Artist Mentoring Pathway launched in 2018 and equips artists with the skills, networks and experience needed to build sustainable music careers.

In 2025 Sound Roots mentees Anna McLuckie, Ed Blunt, Filkin’s Drift and Lucy Grubb are performing across six different Highlights venues.

Sector Support

Highlights is a member organisation of the National Rural Touring Forum (NRTF) and the Northern Consortium.

The NRTF is a national network of rural touring schemes and members including artists, venues, promoters, producers and festivals – all working to deliver professional performances and events in rural settings.

The Northern Consortium is a group of rural touring schemes who work together to sustain, advocate for, and support the development of a strong and robust independent rural and community touring arts and cultural sector in the north of England.

“What fun it has been performing our show last weekend. We couldn’t have been more welcome in each venue . All very different promoters and audiences, all of them fabulous.”

– Stephanie Mair, Fifi La Mer