Offaly County Council’s Festivals Arts Grant Scheme 2023 is in recognition of the growing number of festivals in Offaly with an arts programme and the potential of quality programming to enhance the county’s cultural tourism potential.
Festivals and events play a distinctive role in developing a vibrant and sustainable arts environment at a local level and should present new ideas and ways of working that can have far reaching effects for artists and audiences.
Offaly County Council recognises the valuable contribution made by active voluntary committees in developing and sustaining these festivals.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING
- Please read the eligibility and criteria for this grant (see below).
- This is an online application only. Please do not send hard copies or email applications as they will not be accepted
- You will need an in-date tax clearance number and access number for the festival together with matching bank details
FILLING IN THE APPLICATION
Allow ample time to complete this application. It will save as you fill it out and you can come back to it. You may wish to be prepared with answers and documents.
Here are some things that we will need from you.
- Proposal for 2023 and an estimated budget broken down into specific elements (i.e artist fees, stage costs, insurance costs, PR Costs)
- Committee members of festival
- 2022 Programme (upload as PDF)
- 2023 Proposed list of Arts Events ticketed & free (upload as PDF)
- 2022 & 2023 Estimated Audience figures.
- Health & Safety Statement (upload as PDF)
- Insurances indemnifying Offaly County Council (upload as PDF)
- Licences and Permissions (upload as PDF)
- Artists CVs/Quotes (uploaded as one pdf)
IMPORTANT: You cannot submit the form and you will not get verification of submitting the application until all 'required' parts of the form are filled in or uploaded. If you require a print-out of the application questions and guidelines please do contact us and we will email same for your information.
Offaly County Council’s Festivals Arts Grant Scheme 2023 is open to organisations that promote festivals or events with a *clear artistic purpose where the festival will take place in the calendar year 2023 in the jurisdiction of Offaly.(Arts is defined as music, literature, film, video, community arts, drama, dance, visual arts, architecture). A festival may represent one art form or may include a wide variety of different art forms. Festivals or events may also be programmed over a number of months (e.g. a concert series).
* If festival application is deemed by the selection panel not to have sufficient artistic content, the festival may be considered within other funding schemes (pending available funding).
NOT ELIGIBLE
- Commercial organisations which share out profits to members.
- Competitive events e.g. where the competition is the dominant element of the programme
- Once-off academic conferences/symposia with no wider public benefit
- Activities taking place in a formal education setting where the activity does not primarily engage with the wider community
- Charity/fund-raising events
- Festivals or events that have taken place before the respective closing date for the application
- Parades
WHAT COSTS ARE ELIGIBLE
- Artists’ Fees (this includes performance fees)
- Audience development (activity carried out to help organisations develop ongoing relationships with existing and new audiences)
- Travel Costs and Expenses for artists/performers
WHAT COSTS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE
- Activities that are not arts-related (e.g. heritage, commercial, craft, sport, food fairs)
- Training programmes for individuals
- Marketing and Publicity
- Competitive/Commercial and charitable events
CRITERIA/ASSESSMENT
An assessment panel nominated by Offaly County Council will review all applications based on the following criteria. Note that funding is limited and the standard of festivals applying and being funded is very high, therefore you need to carefully consider the assessment criteria and eligibility when making your application.
a. A complete and considered application form having regard to the guidelines with inclusion of all supporting material relating to your application and a complete expenditure/income report for the full festival.
b. Assessment of the artistic quality and content of your proposed programme, both on a standalone basis and in reference to competing applications.
c. Assessment that the proposed programme is carefully considered in terms of audience development.
d. Assessment that the festival is embracing all avenues of community and financial support in order to keep it sustainable.
e. Assessment of the accessibility and affordability of the arts events to members of the community.
FURTHER INFORMATION AND ADVICE
- Budgeting and Programme: We appreciate that your 2023 event details may not yet be finalised however at this point you will have an idea of the type of programme you will run, the acts and artists you wish to attract and how you can accommodate them within your programme and budget therefore a clear estimated expenditure/income budget for the full festival is required.
- Covid 19 Restrictions and Planning: Under the ongoing health restrictions you will need to carefully plan and consider the action that will be needed to deliver a safe festival. Consideration will need to be given to Health & Safety, social distancing requirements. Your festival will be required to do a full risk assessment and assign a Covid 19 officer to ensure guidelines are adhered to. In the event that the festival cannot take place please do have a contingency plan in place e.g. your festival may be required to go online.
- Duplicate Funding: Please ensure that there is no duplication of funding from Offaly County Council, Local Community and Development Committee and LEADER funded projects
- It is important to have an awareness of other festivals taking place in your locality, care should be taken to ensure that festivals do not clash with each other so as to maximize audience participation, support and income.
- Receipt of a grant in one year does not automatically guarantee grant aid the following year.
- Festivals should contribute to the promotion of a positive image of Offaly.
- Festival organisations will be expected to make efforts to maximise income through ticket sales and sponsorship. They should develop a plan to improve their sustainability.
If you have any queries please do email arts@offalycoco.ie