Tourism Events and Festivals Fund

Ards and North Down Borough Council Tourism Events and Festivals Fund opened on Thursday 31^st October 2024 and will close on MONDAY 25th NOVEMBER 2024 at 12noon. 

The aim of the Fund is to provide grant aid for tourism events and festivals which can demonstrate a positive economic impact within Ards and North Down by attracting additional visitors and spend, contributing to a positive image of the Borough among visitors and residents.   

Guidance Notes for Applicants - please download here  Guidance Notes for TEFF 2025-26 (PDF, 369 KB) (opens new window) or read below.

Please email tourismgrants@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk to register or for further information. 

Complete the application >>>  Tourism Events and Festival Fund Application pack (PDF, 926 KB) (opens new window)

Please note, all successful applications are subject to budget confirmation. 

Applicants should also refer to the Event Management Toolkit for more information and guidance to assist in organising your event. This includes the Event Management Guide, the Event Management Plan Template, the Risk Assessment Template and the Council Land Request Form. 

Guidance Notes for Tourism Events and Festivals taking place from 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026

Introduction

Closing Date Monday 25th November 2024
PLEASE NOTE LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Background

Ards and North Down Borough Council supports Events and Festivals financially via its Grants programme. Previously, Council tested the amalgamation of the Tourism Events Grants Scheme and Community Festivals Fund into the AND Events and Festivals Fund. It has been determined that to ensure proportionate and relevant information is requested from applicants, the Fund will now be available via two AND Events and Festivals Funds.

There are two funds 'the AND Events and Festivals Funds' available for organisations/businesses that deliver events and festivals open to the public - namely the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund and the Community Events and Festivals Fund (both subject to annual budget from the Rates setting process). The aim of each Fund is specific to relevant Council strategic priorities and outcomes.

Please note the Community Events and Festivals Fund will open in the New Year.

Each organisation/group can only receive funding for one event/festival from either of the two AND Events and Festivals Funds (Tourism Events and Festivals Fund and Community Events and Festivals Fund).

To ensure your organisation is applying to the Fund which is applicable to your specific event/festival, please seek assistance by emailing tourismgrants@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk

The Tourism Events and Festivals Fund 2025/26 will be delivered by the Tourism Service (Events) of Ards and North Down Borough Council. The Fund has one open call per year, subject to budget.

The mission of the Tourism Service is to facilitate, sustainably grow and promote the tourism offering in the Borough to benefit our businesses, communities and visitors, as well as grow the capacity of the sector.

We aim to increase the overall NI visitor market share and economic return to the Borough to meet targets and outcomes set within Integrated Strategy for Tourism, Regeneration and Economic Development - Ards and North Down Borough Council and The Big Plan and Corporate Plan 2024-28 - Ards and North Down Borough Council Supporting Tourism events and festivals is integral to growing tourism and to assist meeting Council priorities and outcomes. 

Aim and Objectives of the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund 

Aim of the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund:

The aim of the Fund is to provide grant aid for tourism events and festivals which can demonstrate a positive economic impact within Ards and North Down by attracting additional visitors and spend, contributing to a positive image of the Borough among visitors and residents.

The Tourism Events and Festivals Fund is not a core funder of events and applicants must be able to demonstrate how they will contribute financially to the delivery of the event/festival. No more than 60% of total costs will be grant aided by Council.

Objectives of the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund:

1.To enhance the visitor experience of the Borough;
2.To support events/festivals that increase local tourism spend by attracting attendees and participants, especially those from outside the Borough;
3.To support events/festivals that have the potential to encourage attendees and participants to stay overnight within the Borough;
4.To support the development and capacity of the local events sectors.

The grant available to successful applicants through the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund is:

Eligibility Criteria 

Applications will be accepted from

• Appropriately constituted not for profit organisations, including Limited Companies and Charities (a constituted organisation is one that has a simple set of rules to help make it clear to everyone involved what you intend to do and how you intend to operate).

Application must be for an *event or festival that meets the necessary criteria below.

• Must be delivered in the Borough of Ards and North Down, between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.
• Must be able to demonstrate the ability to increase tourism/local spend in Ards and North Down by promoting to, at a minimum, a Northern Ireland wide audience.
• Must be open to the general public, whether for free or paid-for elements.

We require all applicants to enclose the following documents with your application. If not included the application will not be scored.

• Copy of Constitution or Memorandum of Association
• Most recent AGM Minutes / Inaugural minutes
• List of Office Bearers
• Copy of most recent audited Annual Accounts
• Most recent Bank Statement

Should your organisation be recently formed or not been operational for long enough to have a set of accounts, please indicate this within the declaration within the application. In this instance, we require to see a bank statement showing the organisation name or proof of the account being opened.

*An event or festival is defined as a one-off event or festival, or a series of related events delivered that must take place over a maximum of an 8-week period with no significant breaks and have a distinctive theme. A theme is defined as topic or subject that runs through your entire event/festival such as maritime, art, or music etc.

Organisations/groups can only apply for funding through one application, for one event/festival from the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund. This is a competitive grants scheme and applications will be determined on the basis of merit and need.

Ineligible Applications

Applications will not be accepted from the following:

• Individuals or sole traders;
• Trade or professional conferences/conventions;
• Organisations not legally established in the UK;
• Events and festivals run on the same date as a Council run event that require the use of Council equipment/assets;
• Events/festivals not compliant with the Council's aims and objectives

And for the following activity:

• Ongoing operational costs;
• Retrospective events or activities undertaken, or items purchased outside the specified award period (events/festivals which have already taken place or where expenditure was incurred before a grant award was confirmed);
• Events/festivals or aspects of the event/festival outside the Borough;
• Events or activity which conflicts with any Council run project, event or activity;
• Any event/festival that does not foster Section 75, promote positive attitudes, equality of opportunity and good relations including political opinion, religious belief or racial group
• Events/festivals that are substantially fundraising vehicles, whether for the event organisation itself or to raise funds for transmission to a third party.

General principles which apply to the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund

• Applications to this fund will be open to all events and festivals that can meet the eligibility criteria and aims and objectives of the fund, irrespective of whether they are established or emerging events/festivals.
• Event/Festivals will be required to demonstrate a positive and measurable impact on the local economy.
• Events/Festivals are encouraged to apply to other sources of support or if appropriate, maximise income through ticket sales and sponsorship to add value to the event or festival. They should develop a plan to improve their sustainability and reduce reliance on public funding.
• If an application is successful in receiving funding, the award must be spent on eligible event/festival related costs and within one year.
• Events/Festivals should contribute to the promotion of a positive image of the Borough and organisers must take steps to avert anti-social behaviour.
• Organisations in receipt of public funding must comply with all statutory obligations regarding the safe delivery of and access to their events/festivals
• It is a prime responsibility of Government to ensure the proper and efficient use of and the accountability of public monies. To this end, festivals will be required to provide relevant supporting information when applying for funding. 
• All events/festivals successful in receiving funding through the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund must submit an Event management Plan and Risk Assessment before the event/festival using the Event Management Toolkit template.

The Application - Guidance

Ards and North Down Borough Council wish to support quality, unique events and festivals that can demonstrate a positive economic impact.

The following guidance will assist completion of the application form. Please refer to guidance for each question. It is not enough to repeat what is written in the guidance within the answers of your application. It is important to be realistic and open in your responses as, if successful, some conditions within your Letter of Offer will be based on information in your application. You must include all relevant information within the required word limit.

Only information provided in the answers within the application form will be scored, no other information will be taken into consideration. Scores will be attributed as indicated.

SECTION 1A: YOUR EVENT/FESTIVAL - INFORMATION

Please answer this section fully and provide accurate details about your event/festival to include event/festival title, start and end date venue and location (including any specific event dates during the event/ festival period). This section is not scored.

Events and Festivals should endeavour not to run on the same date as a Council delivered event. Check the dates and times of Council run events here by contacting tourismgrants@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk . You are asked to confirm you have checked by ticking the box. 

If your event/festival requires use of Council land, this must be booked at least 3 months in advance of your event/festival to enable approval by Council. To apply for permission please contact the Compliance Section, landrequests@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk or telephone 028 9182 4075.

Road Closures

You should be aware that if a road is to be closed as part of your event/festival, that appropriate permission must be applied for. To seek further advice and apply for Road Closure permission please contact the Licensing and Regulatory Services Section, licensingandregulatoryservicesteam@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk Or telephone 0300 013 3333.

SECTION 1B: YOUR EVENT/FESTIVAL - THE DETAIL 

1.1 Please provide a description of your event/festival, including the outline programme (for each day as applicable) (scored 0-4) max. 400 words.

What will an attendee see/experience? What are the timings for the event/festival, e.g. start and finish times or timings of the different elements, Does the event/festival have a Unique Selling Point (USP) e.g. does it use performers from the Borough? Is it unique to the area? Does the event/festival utilise the natural and cultural assets of the Borough or tell a story about local historical or heritage sites. Can attendees get involved in the event/festival in terms of learning new skills or engaging in arts and crafts or a leisure activity? Does the theme/subject of the event/festival support positive community involvement and promote positive attitudes for those with a disability or mental and physical health? Is there a running theme throughout the duration of the festival/event e.g. music, maritime, art etc.

1.2 How does your event/festival increase attendee and visitor spend locally? E.g. daily spend on activities, meals, bednights, visiting other attractions (scored 0-4) max. 400 words.

How does the event/festival encourage attendees and generate local economic benefit for the Borough? What opportunities will there be for attendees to spend money? Will the event/festival promote the Borough bringing additional attendees/participants and spend?

1.3 How does running your event/festival contribute to additional spend in the borough? E.g. partnerships with local businesses, transport, use of local suppliers? (scored 0-4) max. 400 words.

This could include using local suppliers for the delivery of the event/festival, encouraging attendees and participants to spend locally, have you engaged with local shops and have partnerships with local businesses, e.g., you show your event/festival ticket to get a discount, are you working with transport providers.
You must clearly state how you hope to achieve this and give specific examples and data as available or relevant. Please list all relevant to your event/festival and explain how the event/festival does this.

1.4 Will your event/festival attract participant bednights? Y/N (not scored).

Does your event/festival give potential for participants to stay overnight? If yes, you will be required to provide further information on this in Section 3 of the application.

1.5 Will your event/festival attract attendee bednights? Y/N (not scored).

Does your event/festival give potential for attendees to stay overnight? If yes, you will be required to provide further information on this in Section 3 of the application.

1.6 Outline the measures you have taken for the safety and welfare of attendees and participants at your event/festival. (scored 0-4) max. 400 words.

Please include the facilities at the location, the provision of toilets, seating and standing areas, a selection of food providers, ease and location of car parking and anything else you do at your event/festival to support the safety and welfare of all.

1.7 Outline the measures you have taken to ensure your event/festival is one that is accessible and inclusive. Please refer to additional information on Disability and Inclusion in Annex A of the Guidance Notes. (scored 0-4) max. 400 words.

How have you ensured all section 75 groups are able to attend your event/festival? Are there viewing areas for disabled attendees? Are there wheelchair accessible toilets, disabled parking areas? How do you promote this? If you have any policies in place to ensure your event/festival is accessible and inclusive to all, please indicate these in this answer.

1.8 Please detail how your event/festival can be developed in future years in terms of audience growth and activities for attendees OR if this is a first-time or one-off event/festival, how this event/festival will attract attendees? (scored 0-4) max. 300 words. 

How do you intend to attract a new audience? Have you added new elements to your event/festival? Have you extended days, perhaps marketed to further afield to develop your audience?
OR How will you market your event/festival to your target audience?

1.9 Does your event/festival provide any opportunities for volunteers? If yes, please include the number of volunteers your event/festival will recruit, what roles are available and if there are capacity building and/or training opportunities for these volunteers (scored 0-4) max. 300 words.

What are your volunteer roles and what training will be provide e.g. marshalling, first aid, Welcome Host training? How many volunteers will be recruited and how do you aim to do this?

1.10 Please detail what measures you will take to protect the environment during your event/festival. For example, consider waste, hazardous substances, travel to and from your event/festival. (scored 0-4) max. 300 words. 

For example, environmental sustainability, waste, how does your event/festival promote sustainable transport such as bike parks, any partnership with Translink, park and ride services etc, encourage the use of public transport? How are you managing waste disposal/storage and recycling?

SECTION 2: BUDGET (scored 0-4, weighted x2)

The Event/Festival should demonstrate the ability to obtain financial support from other sources. This leverage of other funding will support the long-term sustainability of your event/festival as Ards and North Down Borough Council is not a core funder of event/festival.

Organisers may apply for a percentage of total event/festival costs. This percentage must be made up of eligible costs.

Applicants may apply for up to 60% of total event/festival costs. The remaining 40% can include in-kind support but at least 20% must be made up from other funders, sponsorship/ticket sales/own funds etc.
In-kind support is a non-cash contribution of a good or service, provided instead of cash, that is necessary to deliver the event/festival. In-kind contributions can include:

• Staff time: You can calculate this by using the minimum wage and multiplying by the number of hours worked.
• Donated equipment/goods: How much the equipment or goods would cost to purchase or hire
• Services donated from other companies or organisations: How much this service would cost if you were to pay for it
• Use of premises or office space for the event/festival

Table 2.1 - Projected Expenditure

Please detail:

• Itemised Event/Festival Expenditure e.g. Marketing and advertising costs, performers fees, road closure fees etc.
• In kind support must be included in both the expenditure and income tables.
• Please be as accurate as possible

Table 2.2 - Projected Income

Please provide a realistic budget breakdown for your event/festival, to include:

• Where is your Income coming from? Please indicate where you intend to secure your income from e.g. your own funds, sponsorship, other grant (N.B. other Council funding cannot be used in conjunction with this application) income from ticket sales, in kind support etc.
• Please DO NOT include the request from the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund at this stage.
• Offered/Awaiting Confirmation - for each source of income please advise if the funding is secured, awarded or if you are awaiting confirmation and if so when do you to expect confirmation.
• In kind support must be in both the expenditure and income tables.
• Please be as accurate as possible.

Table 2.3 - Summary

• Total projected expenditure (Table 2.1).
• Total projected income (Table 2.2).
• Event/Festival expenditure minus event/festival income (Table 2.1 minus Table 2.2).
• The Total Grant sought from Council.

Completed Example of Table 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3.

Table 2.1 - Projected Expenditure

Table 2.2 - Projected Income

Table 2.3 - Summary

The table below lists eligible and ineligible costs. Please note this list is not exhaustive.

SURPLUS

You must declare any profit/surplus made during your event at the time you submit your grant claim. If your event delivers a surplus, the Council may consider allowing some or all of this to be rolled over to develop your event in the following year (however, this does not commit the Council to a grant in the following year).

A limit on retention of surplus 10% of the total event budget or up to £2,000 (whichever is the highest) may be allowed. However, each event will be looked at on a case by case basis and the event organiser will need to demonstrate a need to retain a surplus at the time of the post-event evaluation of their grant claim.

The event organiser must confirm that any retained surplus will be used for the future event only and for no other purpose.

Any surplus accrued over the agreed retention limit will be deducted from the grant balance payable. Any surplus retained must be shown as income/retained surplus in the event account in the following year.

Should the event not go ahead in the following year, or fail to attract a grant, the Council may require repayment of the retained surplus.

SECTION 3: ATTENDEES AND PARTICIPANTS

3.1 Projected attendee and participant numbers and days they will attend the event/festival.

Please enter your attendee and participant numbers and the average days you project they will attend the event/festival in table 3.1.

Please provide a clear justification of how you have arrived at your figures above. (scored 0-4) max. 300 words.

For events/festivals that have taken place before, draw on past years to provide the justification/evidence for your estimates, for example:

- have you measured attendance at your event/festival in the past, via ticket sales (don't forget complimentary tickets) competition giveaways or police counts, clickers/drone footage?
- did you conduct surveys at previous events/festivals (please mention sample size, when survey took place etc)?

OR If your event/festival is a first time or one-off event/festival, please indicate how you will attract these totals (scored 0-4) max. 300 words.

If your event/festival is a first time or a one-off event/festival, you could benchmark against similar events/festivals to gauge the potential attendance for your event/festival. Take into consideration the capacity of the event/festival venue/site.

3.2 Participant numbers and roles and a number for each role (not scored).

A participant is someone there to run the event/festival or is part of the event/festival. Participants may include: performers/competitors, marshals, media/journalists, crew, production staff, volunteers
Please provide us with a list of expected participants and the roles they will take in the event/festival.

3.3 If your event/festival projects overnight stays, resulting in bednights, please complete the table below indicating the projected numbers. Please leave blank if no bednights are projected. (scored 0-4) max. 400 words.

If bednights will be achieved, please clarify if these are for attendees/and or participants, the projected number staying over and for how many nights and how these will be achieved e.g. participants attending from beyond Borough, marketing beyond borough and partnerships with local accommodation provider. You should give a breakdown of numbers and types of bednights in your response. The below table should assist you calculate the bednights total.
 

1 bednight = each attendee or participant who stays overnight in the Borough.
If other category is used, you must clearly define the type and bednight calculation.

SECTION 4: MARKETING (scored 0-4)

In Section 4, we ask how you intend to market your event/festival, within and outside of the Borough.
Please consider how your marketing materials will be made accessible to a range of disabled people and those whose first language is not English. max 300 words

Support from Ards and North Down Borough Council must be acknowledged. Grant recipients are required to:

• Acknowledge the Council's grant support in all press releases and publicity material including social media
• Include the following statement on all printed material "Supported by Ards and North Down Borough Council"

Where grant recipients do not comply with the Council's publicity requirements, 10% of the total grant awarded may be withheld.

Table 4.2

Please complete table 4.1 with details of how you plan to market your event/festival. Examples have been provided in the table and below.

Quantity/Channel/Publication

If you are providing print materials such as flyers, posters etc, please indicate the quantity you will be printing.
For advertising, please let us know the publication/radio station/TV station etc. For example, press ad in the Chronicle, 20 second radio ad on Q Radio running over 2 weeks, TV ad on UTV over 2 weeks

Reach

This is the amount of people that will see/hear the advertising indicated and where. For example, a press ad in the Chronicle for 1 week, the reach could be 200,000 weekly readers throughout the Borough. Or Facebook posts for 3 weeks leading up to the event/festival, the reach could be 3,000 followers.

Paid for or NOT Paid for

Examples of Paid For marketing could be adverts on the radio/TV, sponsored Facebook posts, press ads.
Examples of Not Paid For marketing could include a press release that is sent to a number of publications, Facebook posts on the event/festival Facebook page, mentions on sponsors websites, adverts in free publications.

Example Table 4.2

Table 4.3
Please include an estimated budget showing the breakdown of the Marketing costs. We would expect that a minimum of 10% be spent on marketing and PR.

What Happens Next 

EVALUATION

Following the closing date, applications will be assessed and scored according to the weighted criteria below.

Evaluation Panel: 

Your application will be assessed by an assessment panel that will comprise of at least 3 officers of which one should be from the service delivering the grant. At least 2 other officers that have experience in administering grants will make up the panel.

Evaluation Criteria:

The answers to each of the questions above will be given a score out of 4 using the matrix detailed in the Table below. An economic calculator to calculate return on investment will also be completed using these answers which will also be scored out of 4. Please note: weighting will be applied to the Finance Section only

A pass mark of 60% has been set for the Tourism Events and Festivals Fund 25/26.

Oversubscription to the Fund

Where the amount of grant funding requested exceeds the available grant budget, all successful grants will be reduced by an equal percentage.
PLEASE NOTE: GRANT AWARDS UP TO £1,000 WILL NOT BE REDUCED.

DEADLINE

The Events and Festivals Fund will close at on Monday 25 November 2024 at 12noon. Incomplete applications or those received after this time will NOT be considered.

Return to:

Email (preferable) tourismgrants@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk
By post to: Visitor Information Centre, Tower House, 34 Quay Street, Bangor, BT20 5ED.

You are advised to encrypt emails that contain sensitive data in order to keep you and your personal information safe.

TIMETABLE

If your application is unsuccessful, you will be notified via email with the reasons clearly stated. You will be sent a copy of Council appeal procedure. Feedback on your application can be provided on written request. However, an appeal can only be made where an applicant can evidence that the process of assessment was not followed in accordance with the criteria detailed in the Guidance Notes.
The aim of the appeals process is to ensure a fair and transparent process for the assessment of grant applications. Grants will be assessed based on the criteria set out in the Guidance Notes.

If your Application is successful, we will:

• arrange a meeting with Council officers to discuss and agree the Letter of Offer (LoO) conditions and our requirements for the evaluation of your event/festival. Evaluation expectations will be in line with the level of grant.
• send you a LoO confirming the amount of the award and detailing the conditions attached to the award. The Form of Acceptance within the LoO must be signed and returned within 4 weeks of the date printed on the LoO.
• You must provide appropriate insurance, risk assessments and an event management plan (EMP) at least 3 months before the start of your event/festival, or as soon as possible after receiving confirmation of a grant. Ards and North Down Borough Council has developed a Toolkit to assist in organising a safe and successful event/festival. The EMP template MUST be used if successful in receiving support. The toolkit and other relevant templates can be accessed at Event Management Toolkit - Ards and North Down Borough Council (gosshosted.com)

Monitoring

You should expect a visit from a Council officer during the event/festival who will observe/check that you are compliant with any conditions within your LoO.
When your event/festival is complete, we will provide templates for monitoring. These include:

• Event Report to include attendee/participant numbers and lessons learned
• Summary Marketing Report
• Income and Expenditure Sheet
• Section 75 monitoring form
• Grant Claim Form

Annex A - Additional Information

SAFEGUARDING

Individuals and organisations working with children, young people and/or adults who may be vulnerable must have an existing policy that ensures good practice guidelines are followed.
Further information on the Council's Safeguarding policy can be found at the following link: Safeguarding - Ards and North Down Borough Council

DISABILITY ACCESS AND INCLUSION

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) aims to ensure that disabled people are not treated less favourably than people who are not disabled. It covers access to goods, services, facilities, education and transport. This means that you have a duty to anticipate that disabled people will want to use your services and you should make changes accordingly to increase accessibility.
The DDA also requires employers not to discriminate against disabled people and to make reasonable adjustments for applications and in the workplace.
We expect all applicants to be familiar with the DDA and have made reasonable adjustments that aim to provide equality of access, dignity and choice.

SECTION 75 CATEGORIES

Section 75 categories are:
Religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status, sexual orientation, men and women generally, disability and dependents.

TOOLKIT

Ards and North Down Borough Council have developed a Toolkit to assist in organising a safe and successful event/festival. The toolkit and other relevant templates can be accessed at Event Management Toolkit - Ards and North Down Borough Council

CONTACTS

Email tourismgrants@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk
By post to: Visitor Information Centre, Tower House, 34 Quay Street, Bangor, BT20 5ED.