Applications for British Columbia Arts Council (BCAC) Operating Assistance: Professional Arts Festivals Program are now open to provide funding to assist the general operations of established professional non-profit arts and culture organizations that produce a major festival, present and feature professional artists, and have a clear unifying theme or vision.
Priority Groups
The designated priority groups consist of applicants who are:
Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit);
Deaf or experience disability;
Black or people of colour; or
Located in regional areas (outside greater Vancouver or the capital region)
Funding Information
The minimum grant amount is $20,000. There is no maximum grant amount
Eligibility Criteria
If your organization does not meet the eligibility criteria, your application will not be forwarded for assessment. To be eligible, an organization must:
Be an arts and culture organization, registered and in good standing as a non-profit society or community service co-op in B.C. for at least one fiscal year prior to application, with a dedicated arts and culture purpose.
Provide arts and culture programming in B.C. and have done so for a minimum of one year.
Engage professionals in artistic, curatorial, administrative or project leadership.
Fairly compensate artists, arts and cultural practitioners, technicians, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers. Compensation must align with community contexts and industry standards within the field of practice, including adhering to international intellectual property rights standards and cultural ownership protocols.
Adhere to the Criminal Records Review Act which requires that people who work with or may have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults must undergo a criminal record check by the Criminal Records Review Program.
Have received at least one Project Assistance grant from the BC Arts Council within the past seven years. Grant programs that fulfill this eligibility criteria include Professional Project Assistance; Arts-Based Community Development; and Arts Impact Grants. Grant programs that do not fulfill this eligibility criteria include, but are not limited to: Pivot Program; Arts Infrastructure; Resilience Supplements; Community Arts Festivals; Project Assistance: Community Arts Organizations; Touring; Early Career Development; Youth Engagement; or Coop Placement.
