Communities urged apply for funding to bring their festival or event to life

Community organisations are being urged not to miss out on help to bring their festival or event to life. 

Sunderland City Council is giving community groups, partnerships, community interest companies, and social enterprises the chance to apply for grant funding of between £100 and £10,000 to help make their event happen.

Councillor Beth Jones, Sunderland City Council's Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Tourism, said: "We have some brilliant community events in our city such as the annual Summer Streets Festival and the Boxing Day Dip. 

"Our Festival and Events Fund is all about encouraging exciting new and emerging events which bring people together and spark the creativity that we know is out there in spades in our communities.

"Whether it's help towards venue hire, artist fees, road closures, picnic boxes or posters, the aim of this funding is to help support communities with the costs of bringing their vision to life or growing their newly established festival or event."

The City Council is especially looking to support projects which engage local communities, create new, dynamic and creative experiences, promote sustainability and greener events and encourage equality, diversity and social cohesion.

To be in with a chance of securing grant funding, organisations will need to complete an application form and be able to demonstrate how their project meets a range of criteria.

These include:

• A completely new event/festival with a comprehensive business plan; or  

• An event/festival less than five years old in its current format but that is looking to include additional activity to improve event sustainability  

• An event/festival aimed at developing the cultural offer within its locality or to appeal more widely across the North-East  

• Supporting the local economy  

• Engaging people from the local community  

• To fill a gap in the tourist/cultural season  

• To develop the skills of volunteers  

• To maximise non-public sources of income, with a view to the event/festival being sustainable and not dependent on funding  

• To promote equality and diversity  

Only festivals and events that are being planned to take place before 31 March 2026 will be eligible for funding. 

To find out more about the fund and apply: www.mysunderland.co.uk/Bring-your-event-to-Sunderland