Deadline: 29-May-25
The Arts Council is requesting applications for its Festivals Investment Scheme to support small-to-mid-scale festivals to deliver high-quality arts experiences for audiences.
It focuses on programmes engaged with, and relevant to, local communities or communities of interest.
Objectives
- To ensure a diverse and varied arts-festival ecology by supporting a variety of small-to-midscale festival programmes and festival models to deliver high-quality and engaging arts-festival activity/programmes for audiences so as to contribute to the development of arts practices and to increase opportunities for public engagement.
Purpose
- The Arts Council will achieve the objectives of the Festivals Investment Scheme by supporting project proposals that:
- Express an overarching artistic vision that resonates with the nature of the proposed activities and demonstrates artistic excellence
- Show evidence of commitment to the Arts Council’s artform priorities relevant to the programme proposed
- Demonstrate sound and effective festival and financial management, a track record of excellence, and delivery to a high standard, ensuring the project proposed is feasible.
Grant Categories
- Band A: A small festival, a new festival wanting to test new ideas, a festival that is in the early stages of development or a festival without a formal business structure should consider applying to Band A.
- Band B: A small to mid-scale festival, a festival that is seeking to build programme capacity in a particular artform/arts-practice area or which wishes to develop strategies for public engagement should consider applying to Band B.
- Band C: A mid-scale festival that is strategically led and wishes to develop its capacity in the area of artform development (e.g. co-commissioning, producing, etc.) should consider applying to Band C.
Priorities
- Priority will be given to proposals that:
- Demonstrate public engagement by:
- Evidence of audience-development strategies that provide opportunities for the public to attend arts events and/or to participate in arts activities
- Providing opportunities for the public to collaborate with artists.
- Demonstrate festival priorities by:
- Producing evidence of a high level of integration with local resources and support from a diverse range of partners
- Demonstrating a commitment to collaboration with organisations that support and strengthen the festival’s work
- Showing an understanding of the context/place the festival is being presented in, and evidence of the value and relevance to the immediate community.
- Demonstrate equality, diversity and inclusion priorities by:
- Showing how equality, diversity and inclusion are included in the organisation’s working practices.
- Demonstrate public engagement by:
Funding Information
- Band A: €10,000
- Band B: €10,001–€25,000
- Band C: €25,001–€45,000
Eligible Activities
- You may apply for funding in relation to activity costs that your festival expects to incur. These might include:
- Artists’ fees (including performance fees)
- Venue-rental costs
- Staff costs (e.g. administrative, technical and front-of-house support directly related to the festival)
- Audience development – activity carried out with the objective of developing ongoing relationships with current and new audiences
- Marketing and publicity costs.
Ineligible Activities
- Activities and costs that you may not apply for include the following:
- Activities that are not arts-related – e.g. events relating to heritage or crafts, food fairs, stand-up comedy, gaming or sporting events
- Training programmes for individuals or programmes taking place in a formal education setting where the activity does not engage with the local community
- Festival activities that have already taken place or that will have commenced before a decision is made on your application (this excludes research, preparation and planning for your festival programme taking place on the dates outlined in section 3.1 of your application form)
- Activities by registered charities that are for fundraising for other organisations
- Activities that are for participating in a competition.
Eligibility Criteria
- Round 1 is open to organisations resident in the Republic of Ireland promoting festivals with a clear artistic purpose and which commence between 1 January–30 June 2026.
- An organisation may make only one application under the Festivals Investment Scheme in a year (i.e. one application in one band per calendar year).
- For applicants to Band B: Organisations must be established for a minimum of three years and executed three consecutive festival programmes for the festival project named in section 3.1 of the application form (these do not need to be Arts Council-funded programmes).
- For applicants to Band C: Organisations must have been established for a minimum of five years and executed five consecutive festival programmes for the festival project named in section 3.1 of the application form (these do not need to be Arts Council-funded programmes).
Ineligibility Criteria
- Organisations that are not eligible to apply under the scheme include the following:
- Individuals.
- Organisations whose proposals are better suited to another funding programme offered by the Arts Council or by another funding agency (in this case, we will redirect you to the more appropriate funding opportunity).
- Commercial organisations that share out profits to members.
- Organisations/festivals based outside of the Republic of Ireland. However, applicants based in the Republic of Ireland may collaborate with an organisation based abroad.
- Organisations where the dominant element of the programme is competitive in nature.
- Organisations in receipt of Strategic Funding, Partnership Funding or Arts Centre Funding.
- Organisations that have applied for or are in receipt of Arts Grant Funding 2026 to undertake any festival programme.
For more information, visit The Arts Council.