Call for applications 2023: Festival Subsidies
Application period
Begins: 2 October 2023 at 8:00 Ends: 31 October 2023 at 16:00
The deadline for submitting applications is 16:00 (4:00pm) on the last day of the application period. This is the absolute deadline by which time Taike must receive the application.
Applications should be submitted online during the application period.
The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) requires that applicants familiarise themselves with the call for applications before filling in the application.
Intended recipients
Festival subsidies are intended for communities such as associations, cooperatives and companies. Organisations run by municipalities and foundations may also apply. These subsidies are intended primarily for professional operations within the arts and culture and not for recreational activities.
Communities that receive other operational subsidies from the Ministry of Education and Culture or Taike are not eligible for festival subsidies; instead, they should apply for support for organising a festival as part of an operational subsidy.
Impact goals
Festival subsidies shall
- support the livelihood and employment of artists
- renew and develop the contents and structures of operations
- promote the availability and accessibility of art and culture nationwide
- support the long-term development of communities
Who decides
Applications and the operations of applicants are evaluated by Taike’s experts. Decisions are taken by the Director of Taike based on a presentation by a special advisor.
Purpose and amount
Festival subsidies are intended to support the organisation of art and culture festivals in Finland. Festivals should be well established (organised at least 3 times in the past).
Subsidies can be applied for with one application only. Select the artform that your operations most closely involve.
Festival subsidies are awarded as operational subsidies to support the operations or part of the operations of the community organising the festival.
Festival subsidies may cover only a portion of the total funding of operations and not all expenses. The amount of the subsidy combined with other state support may not exceed the total amount of eligible expenses (100%).
Festival subsidies may be awarded if considered necessary taking into consideration the applicant’s other State support, as well as an evaluation of the applicant’s operations. These subsidies are discretionary and are awarded on an annual basis on condition that Parliament allocates the required appropriations in the annual state budget.
The call for applications in 2023 is for one-year and three-year festival subsidies.
The minimum amount of each one-year subsidy is 10,000 euros. One-year festival subsides awarded by Taike may cover no more than 80% of eligible operational expenses.
The minimum amount of each three-year subsidy is 30,000 euros per year. Three-year festival subsides awarded by Taike may cover no more than 60% of eligible operational expenses. The proportion of other funding for operations shall be reviewed on the basis of realised expenses in the financial statements for 2019–2022, taking into consideration the exceptional years caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Subsidies amounting to less than 10,000 euros should be applied for in the form of a special subsidy for projects within specific artforms (see Special Subsidies).
Taike does not award festival subsidies for nationally or internationally significant and established art and culture festivals, for which support can be applied from the Ministry of Education and Culture. In addition, Taike does not award festival subsidies for film festivals, for which support can be applied from the Finnish Film Foundation. Furthermore, festival subsidies are not awarded for children’s culture festivals, which can apply for subsidies from appropriations intended for children’s culture.
Further information about eligible expenses can be found on the Taike website: Guidelines for subsidy applicants
Previously awarded subsidies are listed on the Taike website: Awarded grants and subsidies
Evaluation criteria
The same general criteria apply to applications for both one-year and three-year festival subsidies. Applicants for three-year subsidies must also meet additional criteria.
The awarding of subsidies is based on an overall assessment and comparison of applications within each artform. When evaluating applications, the following four criteria and questions are used, not all of which need to be fulfilled. There is no weighting in the decision-making criteria. The regional distribution and language of applicants are taken into consideration, as is the amount of available funding allocated for each artform.
Ambition and quality of operations
- Are the community’s operations ambitious, high quality and interesting?
- What is the community’s strategy and vision or operating plan for the coming years?
- What kinds of ideas and operating models do the community’s operations offer to the field of the arts, artists and audiences?
- How are gender equality, fairness and occupational wellbeing ensured?
- How are the principles of sustainable development implemented in operations?
- Does the community pay wages and fees in accordance with fair remuneration practices?
Scope and impact of operations
- What is the scope of operations regionally, nationally or internationally?
- What kinds of networks does the community have?
- What kind of social impact does the community’s operations have?
- How do the community’s operations encourage an understanding of or discussion about art?
- How is accessibility ensured?
- What are the key figures for operations (e.g. audience numbers, the number of performances, exhibitions, workshops)?
- What is the number of staff (person years)?
Quality of artistic content
- What is the quality and unique nature of the artistic content?
- How noteworthy is the community in its field of the arts?
- Are staff members professionals?
- What are the prior international merits of the community?
Financial sustainability and feasibility
- How have the community’s finances been managed in previous years?
- How realistic and balanced is the budget for the forthcoming year?
- Is the amount of the subsidy that has been applied for realistic?
- Is the amount of the subsidy that has been applied for necessary in relation to the scope and financial situation of operations?
- What share (%) of actual eligible costs were covered by the previous year’s subsidy?
- What was the community’s self-financing proportion for the previous financial period?
Applicants for three-year festival subsidies must also meet the following criteria
- The festival’s actual revenues and expenses (realised budget) for the previous four years (2019–2022) must average 60,000 euros or more per year.
- The community must have an operational and financial plan for the festival for the next three years.
- The emphasis for three-year festival subsidies is on the national or international significance of the festival, as well as the long-term planning of festival operations.
General terms and conditions
Finances
- Subsidies awarded by other parties are taken into consideration when awarding subsidies. Local government and other funding is considered an advantage.
- Subsidies for communities supported in previous years may be increased or decreased according to the community’s operations, comparisons to the applications submitted by other communities, or the amount of funding that has been allocated.
- Finances for artistic operations (revenues and expenses) should be listed separately from other operations (such as restaurant operations) and their financing.
Operations
- The community is well established and carries out regular year-round operations.
- The activities of the community cannot be profit-based.
- Taike requires that communities comply with the Act on Equality between Women and Men (609/1986) and the Non-discrimination Act (1325/2014), as well as other legislative obligations for employers.
Obligations of recipients
- Recipients of a subsidy must submit written clarification and a financial report of how the subsidy was used.
- Communities that receive a festival subsidy from Taike cannot receive another special subsidy from Taike within a specific artform.
What to include with your application
One-year festival subsidy
Mandatory attachments for all applicants
- The community’s audited financial statements (signed) for the previous financial period (annual report, long income statement and balance sheet)
- The community’s operating plan and budget for 2024
- The articles of associations or community’s rules if the applicant is a company
Three-year festival subsidy
1. Mandatory attachments for all applicants for three-year festival subsidies
- The community’s operating plan and budget for 2024
- The festival’s operating plan and budget for 2025 and 2026
- The articles of associations or community’s rules if the applicant is a company
2. Mandatory additional attachments if organising the festival represents the main operations of the applicant
- The community’s audited financial statements (signed), long income statement and balance sheet for 2019-2022
3. Mandatory additional attachments if the applicant has other operations in addition to organising the festival
- The community’s audited financial statements (signed), long income statement and balance sheet for the previous financial period
- The community’s audited cost centre reports (signed) for the festival covering the years 2018-2021
The maximum file size for each attachment is 4MB. Attachments may not be sent by e-mail.
Grounds for disqualification
- If the application arrives after the application deadline. Applications must be received by Taike by 16:00 (4:00pm) on the last day of the application period.
- If the application is incomplete (if the required information has not been delivered to Taike following a request for such information)
- If the applicant has not submitted written clarification of previously awarded subsidies before the given deadline.
Subsidies are subject to the Act (657/2012) and Statute (727/2012) on Taiteen edistämiskeskus (only in Finnish); Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001); Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003).
Taike monitors the use of subsidies and is entitled if necessary to review the finances and operations of recipients.
How to apply
Log in and fill in the application online (user interface in Finnish)
You can log in using Suomi.fi e-identification.
Instructions for using online services
If you are unable to use our online services, please contact Taike’s customer service.
Guidelines for subsidy applicants
Notification of decision
All applicants will be notified of the decision in writing by the end of February. Applicants will be informed by e-mail when the decision can be accessed from our online services. If you do not receive the e-mail to your inbox, remember to check also your junk mail folder. Applicants are responsible for checking their e-mail messages on the address supplied in the application.
Applications are public documents
Applications submitted to Taike are public documents, about which everyone is entitled to receive information according to Finnish law (Act on the Openness of Government Activities 621/1999). For example, the media can request to view applications. The project plans of communities are confidential to the extent that they contain information considered to be business secrets, such as artistic ideas or information about private individuals. Information about subsidies awarded to communities is published on the Taike website.
Taike submits information about all state subsidy decisions for publication on the tutkiavustuksia.fi website (Act on Discretionary Government Transfers 688/2001).
Further information
Special Advisor Katariina Kummala, t. 0295 330 812, [email protected]
Customer Service, t. 0295 330 700, [email protected]