Belfast City Council: Cultural Multi-annual Grants 2026-28
Overview
Their new investment model for culture proposes a structured approach to funding with the aim of sustaining and developing accessible cultural activity and infrastructure across Belfast.
The aims of the cultural investment model are to:
- Support the cultural life of the city by enabling citizens to be active, dynamic and creative agents of change
- Invest in the cultural and creative sectors skills development and capacity for production and innovation
- Position Belfast as an international testing ground for new approaches to cultural engagement, development and placemaking
- Establish Belfast as a cultural destination Multi-annual grants are the first phased element of the cultural investment model being developed by Belfast City Council. Other programmes will follow in due course.
There are two strands of cultural multi-annual grants available for different types of organisations, that is multi-annual grants for:
CMAG Arts and Heritage two-year grant 2026-2028
- Arts and heritage organisations with a year-round programme of activity
- Organisations delivering festivals and events with an audience of more than 10,000
For Arts and heritage organisations see here.
You will be asked to tell them about your organisation and your programme and budget for 2026/27 and 2027/28. Although they do run a four-year grant, this is currently closed for applications as it runs in four-year cycles, and they hope to reopen for applications in mid-2027.
These guidance notes are for the Festivals and Events two-year grants
Festivals and Events grants
This multi-annual grant is open to all cultural organisations whether they work through sports, arts, heritage, architecture, language, food and so on running a large festival or event. For the purpose of this investment, festivals and events are defined as an activity or a series of activities with a common theme that occurs on one day or over a period of several successive days.
It is anticipated that applications for multi-annual grants will be very competitive. If you are unsure which grant you should apply for, talk to them.
What you can apply for:
- Minimum grant that can be awarded is £10,000.
- This is also the minimum you can apply for.
- Maximum grant you can apply for, and you can be awarded, is £50,000
- You can receive up to 25% of your organisation’s turnover, but no more than the maximum grant of £50,000
- Estimated average grant will likely be around £28,000
- They expect to fund around 25 festivals / events in this round of funding
The same level of award will be received each year. For example, if you apply and are awarded £10,000, you will receive £10,000 each year across the two years.
As this is a competitive programme subject to budget availability, you may be offered less than the amount you applied for. If this is the case, they will talk to you about the effect this may have on your programme before they issue your contract
What they can invest in:
Their investment can be used towards the cost of running your organisation and delivering your festival or event.
Who can apply:
You must meet the following eligibility criteria to be considered for investment.
Common eligibility criteria
Your organisation must:
- have an office in and operational focus in the Belfast City Council local government district.
- be a legally constituted group and supply evidence of this (a constitution or memorandum and articles of association).
- have a current board with board members or trustees. This must include a Chairperson, a Treasurer and a Secretary who are separate individuals
- be a not-for-profit organisation and be unable to share out profits to members or shareholders. have a board or management committee and supply a list of members.
- hold a bank account in the organisation’s name and provide evidence of this.
- be in good financial health, have effective financial controls and submit evidence of this such as annual accounts, management accounts and bank statements.
- complete the application form in full.
All of your organisation’s policies and procedures must be in place, up to date and fit for purpose to comply with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements for the group, services and activities for which your organisation is wholly liable.
Grant-specific eligibility criteria
This grant (Arts & Heritage two-year funding) has the following specific eligibility requirements:
| Primary purpose of organisation | Culture |
| Type of activity | Festival or event |
| Minimal Annual Turnover | £50,000 average over the contract period (from 2026/27 to 2027/28) |
| Staff | Has or will employ in the first year of the grant at least one fulltime equivalent staff. This may be considered within a partner organisation where there is a clear legal relationship and where a commitment to delivering the festival or event can be demonstrated and measured |
| Planning | Organisational business plan, incorporating an event management plan to cover at least 2026/2027 or the first year of the grant. |
| Marketing | Marketing and communications plan for at least the first year’s festival or event |
| Partners | Local and regional partners |
| Audience & participants | 10,000 by the end of the first year of the grant, or a five per cent increase each year, whichever is greater |
| Visitors | 20 per cent of audience from outside Belfast including a target for visitors from outside NI |
- You cannot apply for both a festivals and events grant and an arts and heritage grant.
- If you are an arts and heritage organisation that runs or is planning a festival or event with an audience of 10,000 people, you must apply for a festivals and events grant (rather than an arts and heritage grant), regardless of your programme of activity throughout the rest of the year.
- If you have two or more festivals or events, you may apply for the others on separate application forms
- Your total number of grants received from this programme cannot be more than three festivals in total in the same year