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Applications for grant funding for Limerick’s Festivals and Events 2020-21 now open

Limerick festivals events 2020-21 grant funding applications are now open for event organisers.

Applications for grant funding for Limerick’s Festivals and Events 2020-21 now open

Limerick City and County Council is pleased to announce the opening of a funding call for Limerick festivals and events for 2020-2021. The call is open to all organisers of festivals and events across the city and county, who are encouraged to develop and increase the appeal of their events.

Since 2017, Limerick City and County Council has made this new direct investment, through this competitive grant scheme of €920,000 in the festivals and events sector. The investment helps increase the quality of Limerick’s festival and events and has contributed to Limerick’s growing reputation as an exciting place for the arts. 

Limerick City and County Council is building on this investment by providing further strategic funding of €245,000 for Festivals and Events in 2020-2021. This year’s fund includes a €5,000 contribution in partnership with Limerick City and County Council Parks Department to support public events that take place in parks across the county. 

The three strands of funding are: 

  • Strand 1: Delivery and Programming of Small and Community focused Festivals and Events 
  • Strand 2: Delivery and Programming of Medium and Large-Scale Festivals and Events 
  • Strand 3: Festival 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 to those wishing to establish a new festival. 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 Limerick. 

Strand 3 is being re-introduced into this year’s scheme to support festival sustainability in what has been a very difficult year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This strand invites applications for the development of organisational structures such as the carrying out of feasibility studies, business plan development, marketing strategies and reviews of governance structures.

Limerick St Patrick's Festival 2020

Limerick St Patricks Festival is a major event in Limerick that suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Picture: Sean Curtin/True Media

This strand also includes the opportunity to participate in the Business of Festivals Development Programme, a partnership between the Tourism, Culture and Arts Department and LEO Limerick. 

In response to Covid-19, this year’s grant call asks applicants to consider elements of their programme which can be digitised in order to help mitigate against the risk of a complete cancellation of a festival or event. 

This should be online, live or prerecorded, which is engaging and allows for audience interaction through talks, presentations and or activities etc. All applications must demonstrate consideration given to the Covid-19 national Health and Safety guidelines and restrictions and have a clear risk assessment procedures and implementation of Health and Safety method statements.

Aoife Potter Cogan, Tourism Culture and Arts Dept with Limerick City and County Council said: “The Festivals and Events sector is one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. Festivals are an important generator of local employment, support community cohesion and are a key attractor for tourism. This investment by the council is crucial to providing some certainty for the future so that organisers can start to plan for recovery and rebuild confidence in the sector.” 

Funding is for Festivals and Events taking place from October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021. Closing date for applications is 4 pm on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. Applications are made through our online submission process. 

For more information, or to apply, for this competitive grant scheme, please see limerickarts.submit.com 

For more stories about past events and festivals in Limerick, click here.

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.