Louth County Council’s Festival Grants Program in Ireland

Deadline: 10-Jan-25

The Louth County Council is pleased to announce the Festival Grants Program.

Streams

• There are two streams of funding open for applications:
  • Louth County Council Festival Grant Initiative
  • Louth County Council Regional Festivals & Participative Events Programme

Purpose

• Louth County Council Festival Grant Initiative
  • The key objective of the Fund is to provide support to organisers of local and community events which will benefit local economy and tourism in the County. The Fund is a Louth County Council Initiative and will be administered by Louth County Council.
• Louth County Council Regional Festivals & Participative Events Programme
  • Regional festivals and participative events are an important component of the Irish tourism product offering. These festivals/participative events provide opportunities to showcase culture, people and places, thereby greatly improving the visitor experience of Ireland. This programme aims to enhance the growth, quality, competitiveness and sustainability of tourism in Louth by improving the visitor experience. Support is provided by way of funding from Fáilte Ireland.

Funding Information

• New Enhanced Louth County Council Festival Grant Initiative
  • Funding, up to a maximum grant of €8,000, can be applied for

Eligibility Criteria

• New Enhanced Louth County Council Festival Grant Initiative
  • It is open to groups or organisations that are organising festivals / events / activities in County Louth in 2025. To be eligible for funding, the event should:
    • Deliver a number of local, regional and/or overseas visitors
    • Contribute at a local level to the County’s calendar of events in relation to attracting visitors
    • Demonstrate a capacity to deliver i.e. the Event Organiser(s) must provide a clear plan for producing and promoting the event.
    • Have the capability to promote the event and provide a potential for media coverage
    • Your event can be either a new event which will take place in 2025 or an addition to an existing event which is being expanded
• Louth County Council Regional Festivals & Participative Events Programme
  • The programme is aimed at regional festivals and participative events which attract visitors to the area while generating economic benefits for the host locality & surrounding areas while raising awareness of the region internationally.
  • Successful applicants must demonstrate how they will:
    • Seasonality (festivals & events outside of high season (June/July) are encouraged)
    • Increase awareness of the area
    • Add variety and diversity to the destination
    • Animate the local area
    • Contribute towards the local economy (including night-time economy)
    • Build on Irelands key tourism strengths
    • Provide tourists with brilliant visitor experiences
    • Align their festival with Fáilte Ireland’s ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’ brand strategy

Ineligibility Criteria

• Louth County Council Festival Grant Initiative
  • Infrastructural/tourism development projects/capital costs for the County
  • Spend on alcoholic beverages, fines, penalty payments, legal costs, audit fees, financial consultancy fees and wages & salaries of consultants
  • In general, the cost of items for re-sale are ineligible
  • Items including, but not limited to, expenses incurred on behalf of event/festival organisers such as mileage/phone bills/subsistence, etc
• Louth County Council Regional Festivals & Participative Events Programme
  • The following categories of festival & participative events are ineligible for this funding arrangement:
    • Purely commercial events with limited tourism appeal
    • Agricultural shows & countryside fairs with limited tourism appeal
    • Spectator-based sporting events
    • Circuses and carnivals
    • Christmas fairs, markets and parades

For more information, visit LCC.