Fingal County Council’s Events Unit was established in 2010 to organise and support events happening within the County. Since its establishment, applications for events have increased substantially. The support programme is a combination of Fingal County Council’s own events, events in partnership with other bodies that have similar objectives, and events organised by external organisations who receive funding directly from Fingal County Council through a financial assistance programme.

 

Festivals and Events are a celebration of creativity and diversity and have an immensely positive impact on the cultural wealth of Fingal. Every year, nearly 70 events occur across the county, from major music and theatre festivals to seafood festivals, local summer festivals, community run events and parades. They provide a platform for the arts, sports, food, history and entertainment and celebrate a wealth of lifestyle and passions. They offer a host of economic, social, and cultural benefits to communities. Economically, events stimulate the growth of the local economy and socially, embrace community pride, provide education and strengthen community relationships.

 

The Scheme offers an opportunity for funding under three Strands for Festivals and Events taking place in 2023.

 

The three strands of Events and Festivals funding are:

S1: Delivery and Programming of Small Scale and New Festivals & Events

S2: Delivery and Programming of Medium and Large-Scale Festivals & Events

S3: Festival and Events Economic Development and Sustainability

 

 

The objective of Strand 1 is to support a diverse range of Festivals and Events from small, voluntary and community focused festivals and events. While the range of activities might be expressed in a variety of forms, the schemes focus is placed on public engagement and amination of public spaces. The scheme will consider applications from Festivals and Events organisers seeking funding to be invested directly in cultural activities which complement and provide additional programming to other pre-existing Festival or Event activities which may not on their own be eligible.  

 

 

Fingal has experienced the transformative effect of festivals and events in communicating a new set of values, offerings and identity to the world. Therefore, the objective of Strand 2 is to support a diverse range of festivals and events to enhance the programming and delivery of festivals and events in Fingal. While these might be expressed in a variety of forms, the scheme’s focus is firmly placed on public engagement and activities that feature culture strongly in their overall programme. The scheme seeks applications from medium and large organisations, festivals and events including those proposing new festivals or events. The scheme will accept applications from those seeking funding to be invested directly in cultural activities which complement and provide additional programming to other pre-existing festival/event activities which may not on their own be eligible. 

Strand 3 – Festival and Events Economic Development & Sustainability

 

Strand 3 seeks to fund actions to support the long-term sustainability of festivals/events. This strand aims to support the development of organisational structures such as the carrying out of feasibility studies; business plan development; reviews of governance structures; development of new festival/event concepts; marketing and audience development strategies; brand development; clustering initiatives which support collaboration through shared resources and/or expertise amongst two or more festivals/events and training opportunities.

 

Seeking applications for Strand 3 does not bind Fingal County Council to allocating this funding.