RISE by Henley Festival
Investing in a creative future.
Providing opportunities for emerging talent to learn, perform and flourish.
RISE is Henley Festival’s charitable programme providing opportunities for emerging talent to learn, perform and flourish in the creative industries. The programme was created to champion up-and-coming creatives in visual arts, music and backstage. Now in its fourth year, RISE supports these talented musicians and visual artists and provides opportunities for the backstage staff of the future, by giving them paid, hands-on work experience with leading lighting and sound companies.
Succeeding in the creative arts industry is notoriously difficult. RISE by Henley Festival enables participants to explore their creative talents in a fabulous setting. We provide them with funding, exposure, mentoring and professional advice, and a fantastic, receptive audience.
In 2024, we were thrilled to showcase such high standards of talent on the RISE stage, presented by Westcoast, and in the Audi High RISE Gallery, and we were amazed by the commitment of the RISE backstage students.
This year, RISE returns with even more performances from edgy, powerful bands and soulful singer/songwriters at the centre of the festival. You can discover future masterpieces and meet their creators in exhibitions by three award-winning, emerging visual artists, in our dedicated Audi High RISE Gallery, and we will welcome four backstage crew students, working with our internationally acclaimed sound and lighting companies.
Importantly, we provide financial remuneration to all RISE musicians and backstage crew so that they can do what they love in a supportive environment. RISE visual artists exhibit free of charge at the festival with no commission taken on work sold.
RISE is actively working with local and national colleges, and performing arts academies, to find talented individuals and groups, whatever their story, who will benefit from the opportunities that RISE provides as part of the Henley Festival.
So enjoy a drink at the RISE bar next to the RISE stage whilst appreciating new music and the beautiful scenery on the bank of the Thames or take the opportunity to browse fresh, contemporary artworks and invest in a future masterpiece.
And what are the next steps for RISE? With your support, we will see the programme expand to offer more performances and more work experience opportunities at the festival. We are always looking at ways to support our RISE candidates beyond Henley Festival week and welcome new ideas. For details of our 2025 line up, please look at our What’s On pages.
If you would like to find out more about the RISE programme please contact emmae@henley-festival.co.uk
If you would like to make a donation towards RISE and support emerging talent in the creative industries you can do so here.
In 2024, we welcomed back Bristol-based RISE band, Horses on the Beach, who rocked the post-firework Bedouin with their upbeat, jazzy, big band sounds.
“Our experience performing at Henley was brilliant! The support from the on-site team, sound technicians and artist liaison in the lead up to the event, were all supportive and made the whole process as easy as possible for us.”
HORSES ON THE BEACH, RISE MUSICIAN 2023 AND BEDOUIN PERFORMERS 2024
“The Great Leslie, believe that RISE is a fantastic programme that supports emerging artists of all kinds to present their work to a wide audience while allowing artists to be themselves.””
THE GREAT LESLIE , RISE BAND 2024
“I’ll take this opportunity to thank you for the amazing journey I’ve been on these last few months. Not many artists get to be the centre of attention (along with Conrad, Amie and Beatrice) and in association with such a big brand. Thank you for selecting me.”