The Arts Council announces round two of the Festivals Investment Scheme (FIS) for festivals that commence between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2023.

The Arts Council’s role is to advocate for and support the development of a diverse and varied arts-festival ecology, and to provide a suite of supports that encourage best-practice festival models that increase opportunities for public engagement and participation in the arts or develop the work of an artist/artform.

In this regard the Arts Council offers financial support to small-to-mid-scale festivals to deliver high-quality arts experiences for audiences, and prioritises programmes engaged with, and relevant to, local communities or communities of interest.

The Arts Council acknowledges the diversity of festival operating models and the rich variety of artform-practice areas presented by festivals and their critical role in broadening public access to the arts. The Council also acknowledges the valuable contribution made by voluntary committees in developing these festivals.

In this regard the Arts Council welcomes applications from organisations (voluntary and professional) operating annual, biennial or triennial festival programmes and supports both multi-disciplinary arts festivals as well as those in a single artform discipline through this award.

The Festivals Investment Scheme is a competitive scheme that offers funding to support the staging of festivals on a non-recurring basis.

It is important to note that funding under this programme is offered on a once-off basis. Therefore, those offered awards in previous funding rounds of the Festival Investment Scheme should not assume that funding will be provided.

There are three bands of funding available:

Band A – For awards up to €10,000
Band B – For awards of €10,001–€25,000
Band C – For awards of €25,001–€45,000

See link below for further details.