Nelly Ben Hayoun launches Tour de Moon, providing bursaries to young creatives making work on nightlife

“We are an after-party of immersive experiences, new technologies and science innovation which supports decolonial practices, and showcases and celebrates the creativity of night-time workers and young people,” says Nelly Ben Hayoun, the artist and filmmaker on a quest to empower creatives with Tour de Moon. The main goal: to amplify a diverse range of young creatives and spotlight the possibilities for positive, forward-looking changes for humanity.

Tour de Moon is commissioned as part of Unboxed: Creativity in the UK. The open call launched on 21 October 2021. Up to 875 bursaries are available, ranging from £100 to £25,000 for 18-25 year-olds, to pursue their creative ideas inspired by the moon.

Live four-day experiences in Leicester, Newcastle and Southampton will take place throughout May and June, with a “Moon Convoy” of satellite events also visiting Dover, Coventry, Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Wolverhampton and Bristol, ending the tour in Hackney, London.

Collaborating with local bars, cinemas, and other venues with interactive, immersive experiences, talks and performances, Tour De Moon hopes to challenge our current world and explore new ways of living in future worlds across eight strands. These are: Moon Sports, Moon Press, Moon Music, Moon Cinema, Moon Bar (forum for discussion), Moon Hotline (online content), Moon Convoy (parade) and Moon Experiences (live events).

The initiative hopes that by distributing the budget among a combination of individual creatives, youth groups, and nightlife workers, it can provide a high-profile creative platform to support the creative nightlife sector (events, music and nightlife hospitality) as well as a young demographic, both of which were hit especially hard by the pandemic and funding cuts over the last few years.

The Tour de Moon Board is a collective of scientists, nightlife workers and performers, curators, and inspirational creators of all ages who aim to steer the event and select the successful bursary applicants. The successful applicants will have their work featured in the festival programme and a panel of youth reporters will document the event ensuring it maintains a commitment to equity, collaboration, and social and racial justice responsibilities.

The open call will close on 6 January 2022, with the festival starting in the summer of next year. Applications can be found online.