Mid and East Antrim Borough Council: Community Festivals Fund

Overview

The Purpose of the Fund A key priority of the scheme is to enable the population to enhance their quality of life through participation/engagement in culture, arts and leisure activities.

• The scheme supports statutory and public policy obligations to deliver Section 75 requirements and to promote equality of opportunity and tackle poverty and social exclusion.
• The Community Festivals Fund (CFF) was established in recognition of the positive contribution that festivals can make to communities and to the local economy.
• The Community Festivals Fund is open to applications for festivals taking place before 31 March 2025.
• The scheme will operate on a rolling basis from Monday 8 April 2024 to 31 January 2025 or before this date if the budget has been fully allocated.

The objectives of the Community Festivals Fund are as follows:

a) to support the community and voluntary sector in promoting equality and target poverty and social exclusion;

b) to enable communities to celebrate and encourage cultural expression;

c) to enhance community relations*;

d) to enable partnership working between the community and voluntary sector and local Councils

e) to improve the capacity of community festivals by providing support and training in addition to funding towards the cost of events.

* Community relations in this context should be understood to refer to all equality groups (as defined by Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act) living in our communities.

Is it a Community Festival?

• A community festival is defined as a series of events or a single event with several elements) with a common theme and delivered within a defined time period.
• It is developed from within a community and should celebrate and positively promote what the community represents.
• Community festivals are about participation, involvement, and the creation of a sense of identity and are important in contributing to the social wellbeing of a community.
• They must be initiated and led by, or in partnership with a community organisation.
• The community must play a strong part in the development and delivery of the festival and have ownership of it.

For the purposes of the Community Festival Fund the following will apply;

• all Festivals must be culture based, where culture is defined as ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or social grouping;
• all festivals must demonstrate their commitment to promoting social cohesion, social inclusion, equality of opportunity and good community relations; and
• in this context, ‘community’ includes communities of interest as well as geography and identity.

Levels of Financial Support

• Single Day Festivals - 100% funding up to £1,500 - Festivals must last more than 3 hours and must consist of more than one element. For example BBQ, children’s entertainment, music etc.
• Multi-day Festivals - 100% funding up to £2,000 - Festival activities must take place over two or more consecutive days and have a common theme. Each day must contain activities lasting more than 3 hours per day.

Who can apply?

To qualify for grant aid under this Scheme applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Groups must be properly constituted with an elected committee (appropriate details are requested in the Application Form).
• Groups must be based in the Mid & East Antrim Borough Council area.

For full details and guidelines see the website