Culture Secretary Angus Robertson has announced £1.8 million in grant support for arts and cultural festivals to put the spotlight on artistic talent across the country.

The Expanded Festivals Fund is available to non-profit arts and cultural festivals in Scotland and is designed to enable innovation in programming, help push creative boundaries, and showcase Scottish and Scotland-based artists and practitioners.

It aims to support festivals in expanding their international and domestic reach and profile, and create opportunities for skills or sector development.

Awards of up to £200,000 will be available in the first year and will be administered by Creative Scotland. The grants can be used for raising the international profile of festivals and to support other areas vital to their success, such as for sector and talent development and to open access to educational groups.

Groups and organisations can apply for £50,000 – £200,000, for programmes of activity between Friday 1 May 2026 and Friday 31 December 2027. This means that the start date for your activity must be no earlier than Friday 1 May 2026, and the activity must completed no later than Friday 31 December 2027.

Applications from biennial festivals are subject to the same maximum amount for each edition of the festival as with annual festivals. This should be factored into the application for this funding round, along with plans for future funding rounds.

The fund builds on the success of the Scottish Government’s Festivals EXPO Fund, and helps deliver a key commitment in the Scottish Budget 2025-26 to expand the reach of the fund across Scotland.

Applications for Stage 1: Eligibility and Project Overview open at 2pm on Wednesday 3 September 2025, closing at 2pm on Wednesday 15 October 2025. If their Stage 1 application is successful, groups will be invited to submit a full project proposal for Stage 2, with detailed plans, budgets and supporting material, which open in November 2025.

For further information and guidance, including all eligibility and what will not be funded, and how to apply, please visit the dedicated Expanded Festivals Fund page (linked for your convenience). Alternatively, view the Creative Scotland news announcement.