Festival & Event Grant Fund

Are you planning an exciting event that brings people together and sparks creativity in your community? Our Festival & Event Grant Fund is here to help make it happen! 

We're inviting community groups, partnerships, CICs, and social enterprises to apply for funding between £100 and £10,000 for a single project. 

Whether it's help toward artist fees, road closures, picnic boxes or posters we're here to support the costs that bring your vision to life. 

We're especially looking for projects that: 

• Engage the local community 
•  Create new, dynamic and creative experiences 
• Promote sustainability and greener events  
• Encourage equality, diversity and social cohesion 

Let's celebrate together - creatively, inclusively, and sustainably. 

Apply now and bring your event to life! (PDF, 327 KB)

Funding your Festival or Event   

Sunderland City Council is committed to enabling and supporting the development of festivals and community-based events that will enhance the arts and cultural offering across the city.   

Sunderland City Council intend to continue their support for various festivals and events with grant awards to organisations through our Festivals and Events Fund ("the Fund.")   

It may be the financial support from the city is by way of budget relieving support e.g.   road closures.    

Festival/events should, if possible, demonstrate match funding in cash and/or in kind.    

No festival/event is guaranteed any funding.    

The organiser of the event /festival will provide to Sunderland City Council a completed application and final accounts.   

Scope of the Fund   

A festival or event can be defined as a special programme of themed activities that takes place separately to normal ongoing sports, cultural, community or heritage programmes. They may be held annually but are confined to a limited amount of time. The Fund will only consider festivals and events that are being planned to take place between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.   

Organisations can apply to the Fund for a maximum of one project, between £100 and £10,000. 

The Fund is open to the following organisations:   

Charitable organisations, community interest companies and social enterprises, partnerships, and constituted community groups. Applicant organisations must have a bank account in the name of the organisation.    

The grant funding will be awarded as Minimal Financial Assistance Subsidy under the UK's Subsidy Control Act 2022 and therefore organisations who have received other public funding of over £315,000.00 cumulated during:   

• The elapsed part of the current financial year (i.e., from 1 April), and   

• the two financial years immediately preceding the current financial year will be ineligible for any support.   

Eligible project costs can include:   

• Temporary staff costs   
• Equipment hireMarke
• Marketing costs   
• Performers fees and travel costs
• Venue hire   
• Licencing and road closure costs
• Picnic boxes and other forms of events catering if this is to be offered at subsidised or no cost to the public - and the wholesale costs of these purchases from local business/es is reduced   
• Consultancy support around public health safety, risk management and health and safety 
• Website costs and customer relationship management costs if they are related to the event's promotion, public health advice and updates, sustainable travel options and regional tourism and shop local campaigns   

The Fund will not support the purchase of capital equipment.   

Objectives and Criteria    

To support festivals and events that contribute to some or all of the following objectives/criteria.   

• The event is a completely new event/festival with a comprehensive business plan; or   
• The event/festival is less than five years old in its current format but is looking to include additional activity to improve event sustainability   
• To develop the cultural offer within its locality or appeal more widely across the North-East  
• To support the local economy   
• To engage people from the local community  
• To fill a gap in the tourist/cultural season   
• To develop the skills of volunteers   
• To maximise non-public sources of income, with a view to the event/festival being sustainable and not dependent on funding   

• To promote equality and diversity   

Eligibility   

Applicants should:   

• Demonstrate that the festival/event will meet some or all of the objectives and criteria set out above   

• Demonstrate that the festival/event requires funding to:   

Develop and deliver its activity or o Start a new venture to grow a new audience to make it sustainable   

• Have a detailed budget breakdown in place to be included with application, which demonstrates a schedule of income/expenditure with evidence of match funding and any contingencies    
• Show that the responsible organisation understands the requirements of organising a successful event and has the capacity to deliver the event by way of a completed application form.    
• Confirm as part of the application that the organisation has not have received any other public funding totalling over £315,000.00 00 cumulated over the elapsed part of the current financial year (i.e., from 1 April), and the two financial years immediately preceding the current financial year   

Conditions   

There are a number of conditions that need to be considered before submitting an application:    

• Your event cannot have started before your grant is awarded   
• Online events or events planned to have a significant online programme are ineligible to apply   
• Your application can include 'in-kind' contributions as part of the 50% or more contribution your organisation allocates from its own funds for the festival or event   
• Late applications will not be accepted for the Fund   
• The decisions reached by Sunderland City Council regarding grant awards will be final and no correspondence will be entered into   
• A copy of your organisation's Constitution and most recent annual certified accounts are required with your application to ensure your project meets the governance requirements of the Council   
• Businesses must supply their company registration number their unique tax reference number to be eligible to apply   
• New and one-off festivals and events will require to provide some additional information 
• The Fund will not support regular or recurring programming in year-round venues   
• This includes productions in theatres and arts centres; live music in venues, pubs and clubs, unless part of a wider festival; comedy gigs in venues, clubs and pubs, unless part of a wider festival; regularly scheduled markets and fairs  
• Events which have a principal focus as fundraising events are not eligible to apply    
• Events which are not open to all members of the community to attend are not eligible to apply   
• Funding requests to support regularly scheduled sporting fixtures are not eligible to apply   

• Successful applicants will be requested to share events information to support regional marketing campaigns to promote vibrancy, health and wellbeing in 2025/2026 

Support for Your Events Planning   

If your application to the Events Fund is successful, the Council will provide a contact from whom to obtain ongoing support in the planning of your event.