Created by Open City, the charity behind the acclaimed Open House festival and a much-loved year round programme of public tours, the Golden Key Academy covers everything a skilled guide needs to create and deliver an insightful, entertaining, culturally-aware, critically-ambitious and financially successful outdoor event explaining the city and bringing its many stories to life.
The taught programme – running from February through to September – features a series of informative and interactive lectures covering core competencies including: editorial programming, critical interpretation, and the ethics of cultural production; guiding responsibilities and crowd safety; self-promotion and the use of technology and confidence in public speaking.
Applications for the Golden Key Academy 2026 are now open! Open City are please to be offering 12 full place bursary places. We particularly welcome applications from those underrepresented in tour guiding and from global majority backgrounds.
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