Creative Scotland has awarded £1,994,000 of funding to 28 festivals in the first tranche of support for the new Expanded Festivals Fund.
Orkney Folk Festival’s Island Hop has been awarded £57,000 from the fund.
The list of awards up to £100,000, for programmes of activity taking place between 1 May 2026 and 30 April 2028, can be found on the Creative Scotland website.
Recipients of awards of up to £200,000 will be published in May 2026.
Paul Burns, Interim Director of Arts and Engagement at Creative Scotland said:
“Scotland’s festivals are a vibrant celebration of our creativity and culture, recognised and enjoyed by local communities and people from around the world.
“The Expanded Festivals Fund is a new opportunity to profile incredible creative work in every corner of the country and support other areas vital to our festivals’ ongoing success.
“The supported projects reflect the full range of our festivals’ work – including sector and talent development, international collaboration, and the development of new projects with specific groups and communities in their areas.”
The Expanded Festivals Fund is available to non-profit arts and cultural festivals in Scotland and is designed to help them push creative boundaries and enhance their international reputation on the world stage.
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.
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