National Events Programme

The National Events Programme is one of the core funds run by the EventScotland team, designed to assist in the delivery of the National Events Strategy, Scotland the Perfect Stage, and to contribute to the wider recovery of tourism and events in Scotland.

The programme supports the strategic development of events in 2022. It has been designed specifically to support public-facing live sporting and cultural events, which take place outwith the local authority areas of The City of Edinburgh Council and Glasgow City Council and drive domestic tourism within Scotland.

The National Events Programme is designed to support Scotland’s tourism and events industries, contribute to the wider recovery of Scottish tourism and events and showcase Scotland’s assets. It provides assistance to support events in 2022 to develop sustainably.

There is support available for both community focused events and events supporting the wider visitor economy, as outlined on this page.

Community Events: awards of between £2,000 - £4,000 are available for eligible event organisers of community focused events within Scotland with overall delivery budgets between £8,000 to £20,000 and attracting a minimum of 500 in-person attendees. Funds can be used to support eligible sustainable development costs.

Events supporting the visitor economy: awards of between £5,000 to £25,000 are available to larger scale events which can demonstrate alignment with the key impact areas identified in our National Events Strategy, Scotland the Perfect Stage. These events will have delivery budgets in excess of £20,000 and attract more than 1,000 in-person attendees. Funds can be used to support eligible sustainable development costs as set out on this page.

Events will be assessed on their merits and the EventScotland team will look at ways the event will create a positive impact for the host region and Scotland as a whole. Events are assessed in terms of their viability and event management experience as well as the five impact areas; Economic – Tourism and Business; Brand, Identity and Reputation; Media and Profile; Social and Cultural, and; Sustainability. The ability of events to deliver against these event impacts determines the support EventScotland can offer.

The programme objectives are to: • Generate economic benefits for specific regions of Scotland and Scotland as a whole, contributing to the wider recovery of Scottish tourism • Attract visitors to specific regions of Scotland from other parts of the country and beyond • Enhance the profile and appeal of the host region • Inspire and involve local communities to confidently and responsibly engage with events, allowing people to benefit from community engagement • Ensure that visitors and locals can enjoy Scotland’s tourism assets in a responsible way, while still protecting them for future generations

The programme is a strategic development programme and does not provide long-term or core funding. It is designed to support project costs including additional elements, innovations or new activity and is aimed specifically at sustainably developing events taking place in 2022.

Open to the public cultural and sporting events taking place in outdoor, indoor or hybrid settings and environments. These are generally one off or annual occurrences. This includes but is not limited to; • Agricultural events and shows • Arts festivals • Book, Poetry and Literature festivals • Comedy festivals • Dance festivals • Design festivals • Drive in events • Events which provide seasonal celebrations for communities • Fashion festivals • Film festivals • Food and Drink events and festivals • Highland Games • History and Heritage festivals • Lighting trails and illuminations • Local Community gala days and fetes • Maritime events • Mass participation sporting events • Music festivals, in all genres • National and International Sports Championships / Competitions • Nature and Wildlife festivals • Piping events • Science festivals • Sports competitions or tournaments that are no part of regular fixtures, and which attract spectators • Visual arts festivals • Wellness festivals

Event Eligibility • Events must take place in Scotland, outwith Edinburgh and Glasgow local authority areas in 2022 • The programme is open to public facing cultural and sporting events that take place in a live format (entirely virtual events are not eligible for funding through this programme) • Events must have the capacity to further develop and grow in terms of audience, spectator and participant numbers or media profile • Applications must be endorsed and/or supported by the relevant local authority/ies • Applications must be made by legally constituted organisations. Alternatively, eligible community groups will have a management committee, constitution and their own bank account • Events being supported by EventScotland via any other funding programme for 2022 will not be eligible to apply to this programme • Events that secure funding through this route are not eligible to apply into any other EventScotland funding programmes • Previously the National Events Programme operated a limit of three rounds of funding per event. This limit is no longer in place and events previously in receipt of national events programme funding are eligible to apply for events taking place April - December 2022, assuming all other progamme criteria are met • Financial support cannot be retrospective, and the requested activity must not already be in process • Applicants must provide evidence that the event requires financial support. A balanced and achievable event budget showing other income sources, should be presented • Event budgets should have financial and/or in-kind support from the appropriate local authority and/or other public agencies, as well as demonstrating commercial income sources in their application • Funding cannot be offered through the programme to support certain types of events, details of which are included in the appendix at the end of this document • Applicant organisations should adhere to Fair Work First principles and guidance where relevant • Due diligence will be undertaken for all applicants; the financial health of the applicant organisation will be taken into consideration during the assessment process • Applicants should ideally have an organisation/business bank account, however if this does not exist additional finance checks will be required for verification purposes • A maximum of two individual events will be supported per applicant organisation. If an applicant has multiple companies set up to deliver a range of events which apply to this fund, this will also be considered during the assessment process

Eligible Costs The programme supports activity designed to strategically and sustainably develop events. The following activity is considered eligible for funding: • Innovations to develop, enhance or grow the event • Strategic marketing & PR activity to increase audiences / profile • Hired equipment to improve the visitor experience • Hired equipment to increase capacity • Environmental issues As part of a wider eligible application, consideration will also be given to the following activity: • Compliance with Scotland’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine certification scheme

The following are not eligible • Core event costs required to stage the event • Capital costs, including equipment and infrastructure purchases • Funding gaps left by other funds being withdrawn • Hospitality costs

Private events not open to the public are ineligible for this fund.