Ideas Festival

Applications for Ideas Festival 2024 are now closed. If you have any questions about Ideas Festival 2024, please email enterprise@mmu.ac.uk

What is the Ideas Festival?

Do you have an idea you keep coming back to? Could your idea benefit others, solve a social problem or be the start of a product or service? Always wanted to start your own business? Want to share your idea and have the chance to win a cash prize? 

Ideas Festival is our annual celebration of student and graduate ideas with prizes available up to £1000. 

Who can enter?

We know we have brilliant problem solvers in all faculties, courses and levels so the festival is open to all students and 2023 graduates. You don’t need any prior experience, just an idea and the passion to share it. 

We will support you through the process with workshops to develop and communicate your idea. 

This is a great opportunity to develop your skills, meet other creative thinkers, add something stand out to your CV or even spark the start of your own enterprise.

How does the festival work?

• Candidates apply online using the application form.
• Successful candidates will be invited to attend two workshops in February. These will help them to develop and communicate their idea.
• Following the workshops, candidates will be invited to attend a drop-in where a member of the Student and Graduate Enterprise Team will provide 1:1 support.
• Those who attend all of these sessions will be invited to pitch their idea to a panel for a place in the grand final.
• Finalists will present their idea in front of an audience and expert panel for a chance to win £1000. All finalists will receive £250 in funding and the opportunity to meet experts who can help to develop their idea.