2026 WATERFORD ARTS PRACTICE GRANTS: GUIDELINES
Please take your time to read the guidelines before applying for a grant.
Waterford City & County Council aims to financially assist artists, arts groups and arts organisations. Priority will be given to projects in keeping with either the stated intention of an individual grant and/or the Waterford Council Arts Strategy 2016-2021.
The delivery of quality arts experiences using local talent and services and supporting artists in their work is the key objective.
CRITERIA FOR GRANT APPLICATIONS
- Grant aid is only open to artists, arts groups and organisations based within Waterford City & County’s administrative area. The project must have some public manifestation within Waterford.
- An arts group or organisation is defined as a body whose primary activity is arts based. More than 80% of the overall activity must be of an artistic nature to be eligible for this scheme. This Scheme does not cater for arts workshops which are an addition to the usual activities/work of a group. It does not cover ‘Add on’ arts activities for events. Neither does it cater for groups whose primary function and constitution is other than artistic.
- This scheme does not cover the area of crafts, craft projects and the associated activities such as enterprise fairs and exhibitions. Nor does it cover occasional arts festivals/events, Pantomimes, novelty acts, commercial promoters and arts endeavours are also outside the remit of this scheme (There is a separate Arts Festival Grants scheme advertised annually in November by WC&CC.)
- We do not support publications unless they are Anthologies from established Writers Groups.
- Musical endeavours, such as choirs must employ the services of a professional conductor to qualify for a grant. We regret that we cannot fund religious based choirs of any denomination under this scheme.
- The project must take place in the calendar year in which the money awarded.
- Grants will not be allocated to cover general administrative costs
- GDRP considered, applicants may be required to furnish further particulars or information to the Council if requested.
- Applications will only be accepted via the online application process on or before the stated closing time and date.
- Only projects which have been approved in advance will qualify for grant aid. No retrospective grant aid can be applied for, nor in relation to the payment of former debts.
- Unless you are a professional arts collective or Playwright & Producer Team or the Screenwriter & Producer Team – applicant groups must have been formed and active since October 2023 to qualify for grant aid during 2026. Proof of this may be requested.
- All individual artists applying for a grant must be a member of Artlinks. Go to artlinks.ie@gmail.com to register.
- Outside of the Playwright/Producer Team and the Screenwriter/Producer Team applications, this scheme does not cater for applications from student artists. The scheme neither applies for professional career development. There is a separate funding stream due to be advertised in January 2026 for individual Emerging and Professional artists under ArtLinks.
- Recipients of grants must produce spreadsheet accounts plus the relevant receipts for the grant to be drawn down, or if they are an organisation or group or are awarded €5,000 and over, must produce a set of accounts including copies of the relevant receipts. All groups must supply a report on its activity. Recipients granted €1,500 or more MUST supply a Critical Friends report.
- Waterford City & County Council reserves the right to terminate grant aid if statutory or criminal negligence is involved. Any publicity/printed/web material must credit the project as being grant aided by the local authority and carry the appropriate logo. The Arts Service will provide successful applicants will full details of this requirement.
- Waterford City & County Council shall not be held responsible, in part or otherwise, for any costs incurred for an event which does not take place for whatever reason. Recipients are expected to have adequate insurance in place to cover such eventualities (if an arts activity takes place in a public place, public liability should be no less than €6.5m).
- Groups who find it necessary to re-schedule their activity to another date within the approved timeframe or who need to change their planned activity in any manner should contact the Arts Service immediately with this proposal. Groups who are unable to re- schedule within the approved timeframe will not be entitled to draw down the funding.
- A list of successful applicants will be published on waterfordarts.com and www.waterfordcouncil.ie
- The recipients must follow the procedure as confirmed in writing to them regarding drawing down the grant (see below) and the acknowledgement of funding. They should also take cognisance of these guidelines. A grant may be withheld if the above is not adhered to.
- Groups that are in receipt of sponsorship from alcoholic drinks companies must advise the Arts Office of specifically what section of their programme is sponsored and must supply the Arts Office with statements pertaining to the risk and control of underage drinking and responsible behaviour policies.
- The local authority views the successful applicant as the primary artistic recipient and thus will not support any secondary funding (i.e. from the recipient to a charity for a fundraiser or to a non-specified commercial entity) furthermore if funding awarded for an artistic event is diverted into a charity event – it will be forfeited.
- If you are dealing with persons under the age of 18 you must submit a copy of your Child Protection Policy in digital form.
- You must also compile a statement for Vulnerable Adults if you are dealing with any group who are looked after by a charity, the State or who may have a disability.
- Specific conditions may be attached to the funding which will be outlined in the letter of offer.
- Submission of an online application means that the applicants agree to be bound by the conditions pertaining to the administration of this scheme.
- Also check any specific Grant Criteria for Arts Practice Grants g. for Playwright & Producer Team or the Screenwriter & Producer Team grants.
- If you drop below 50% on any of the individual criteria you will be concidered ineligable for a grant.
SCORING
| Details of applicants | max. 50 |
| Criterion 1 Details (Proposal including ambition, impact, excellence) | max. 450 |
| Criterion 2 Developmental – including personal & group professional development | max. 100 |
| Criterion 3 Details of applicant, track record etc. | max. 100 |
| Criterion 4 Detailing relevance of the proposal to the strategic 2016 to 2021 Arts Strategy | max. 150 |
| Criterion 5 Detailing financial probity, governance and feasibility of your proposal | max. 150 |
| TOTAL MAXIMUM | 1000 |
CRITERIA FOR GRANT DRAWDOWNS
Event or programme that funding was assigned to must be completed
You need to send in a request to draw down the grant that includes:
A Post-event Report to cover the following headings:
- Details of the project/programme
- Attendance Figures including visitor figures (if there is a public element to the project)
- General Observation to include areas of success/areas for improvement
- A line stating that none of the proceeds were diverted as a charitable event
- Observation on financial sustainability or long-term benefits of the project/event
- Official imagery of the event that Waterford City & County Council that can use in promoting the City and County
- (If specified in the application process) Evidence of vouched expenditure to the amount of the grant
- Evidence that goods and services were procured in a fair and transparent manner (e.g. quotations for services)
- Evidence that Waterford City & County Council logos appeared on all printed material and be acknowledged on event websites and social media
- Evidence of inclusion on waterfordarts.com (it is up to you to send it to the website)
- If there was a public element to your project evidence that you invited a representative of the Arts Office and the relevant Mayor.
- Evidence that you should make yourself available to talk about your or your organisation’s project/programme at an agreed date.
- A Critical friend’s report must be supplied for grants over €1,500 (a report by a qualified friendly peer with their observations on the event/programme)
- If you are receiving €9,500 or over in total from all governmental sources a current/up to date Tax Reference Number must be supplied.
Budgets & Accounts
- (For Grants up to €3,000: spreadsheet accounts backed up by copies of receipts must be forwarded. For Grants over €3,000: interim spreadsheet accounts with full accounts to be supplied at the end of the financial year. For Grants of any size awarded to Companies or formal organisations (e.g. Ltds) :interim spreadsheet accounts backed up by copies of receipts must be forwarded with full accounts to be supplied at the end of the financial year).
CONSENT TO PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA (GDPR)
As part of the Arts Grants application process, you are asked to provide personal details such as Name, Address, Contact Phone numbers and Email. By completing the application process you are consenting that this personal data will be used by the staff of Waterford City & County Council Arts Office for the following purposes:
- Adjudication of your application
- Funding recommendations based on your application
- Informing the media (only if your application is successful)
- Corresponding with you about the result of your application
FAQs (these will be updated on waterfordarts.com)
How much is available for all the Arts Practice Grants in 2026?
- A total of €110,000 to cover all arts practice grants.
How much should I apply for?
- You should ensure that you can afford to carry out your proposal anyway – Arts Practice Grants are only there to enable you to complete the project.
- As funding is limited and competitive the adjudicators will be looking at Value For Money as well as quality and Ambition.
- The cap for a single project under Arts Practice Grants is €4,000. But for an arts programme carried out by a professional arts organisation this could rise up to €8,000.
- Music projects e.g. recording, publishing, vinyl etc are generally in the range of up to €2,000.
- Certain grants have specific or general amounts allocated to them – check to see if there are indicative amounts associated with the grant.
When should I apply?
- Apply early – preferably by mid September. In the past some applicants missed the deadline because of lack of internet bandwidth. We will not accept applications after the deadline – October 3rd 4th at 4pm.
When will I know whether I have been successful?
- All things going well – if you are successful you should be able to check waterfordarts.com in late December. However funding announcements may be delayed due to National or Local Government priorities. All things considered letters with Terms and Conditions should be sent in early January 2026.
What if I don’t get the amount I applied for?
- In the letter with Terms and Conditions you will have the opportunity to either:
- Correspond with a plan of how you intend to use the reduced amount
- Turn down the grant.
What if am not successful?
- Unfortunately, there is no appeals process – however you can avail of advice for future applications by contacting the Arts Office.
Where can I get a form so I can fill it out with a pen?
- Sorry, it’s on-line only.
Who makes the recommendations to Council on who is successful or not?
- An independent adjudication team made up of artists/arts practitioners/arts administrators that is advised by the two arts officers and can be chaired (if required) by the head of the department of Culture or their representative.
What if, after a successful application, Covid-19 or a similar crisis interrupts our planned programme will I still be able to draw the grant payment down?
- We would expect you to contact us with alternative plans to complete your programme. This could include an online programme or delaying the final part of it until 2027.
What advice can you offer to help me to fill in the online form?
- Look at the form, read it – then highlight it and copy and paste it to a new document on your computer/tablet/phone/device – then go about getting the information required before starting to fill in the online form proper.
Is there any other advice you can give?
- Be in a position to give yourself enough factual credit – give excellent examples of previous work via Youtube links with descriptions (remember this is a vital part of how we will adjudicate you). Be creatively ambitious, work with other artists, do something extraordinary. Also learn how to utilise spreadsheets and Gantt charts in your application. And… directly quote relevent sections of the arts plan in support of your application!
Other than that, anything else?
- Be reasonable in your expectations and subsequent requests (our total budget for Arts Practice Grants is €110K. This is for a population of over 120,000 people). Also… hate to mention this and I doubt anyone would even think of it but don’t try to canvas for your programme/project (you could face disqualification) … however queries emailed are totally legitimate – see below.
What if I have a question about the online application?
- Email conornolan@waterfordcouncil.ie with “Grant Query” in the subject matter. Someone will get back to you within 48 hours (So don’t leave it until the last day!).
Can I skip elements of the form that I don’t think are really relevant?
- No. We have simplified it as much as we can. If you leave out elements of the applications process, you put yourself in danger of either being disqualified or not having marks attached to those specific areas.
I’m having a problem with QD7 on the Submit Website.
- This error comes up intermitently. QD7 is only for links from the likes of Youtube or Soundcloud etc. If you dont have one of those kind of links to your previous work – copy and paste any link (within reason) and name it “Workaround” then click return. (see Q D7 workaround)
What is the deadline?
- Friday, October 3rd 2025 at 4pm.
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2026 DRAMA INDICATIVE GRANT GUIDELINES
Please note – the grant cannot be drawn down if any part of the grant is going towards a charitable cause. Arts Grants are awarded strictly for Arts purposes and not anything else.
Amateur Drama/Musicals
- Please note that we require sight of sign off by Playwrights/authors or their agents and sign off on music rights if it is a published play/musical. We will also expect proof of payments for these in accounts to be forwarded in Drawdown.
- Standard Play production (must have at least 5 performances) €750 – less than 5 performances will be reduced on a pro-rata rate.
- Standard Play Touring production (must have at least 5 performances) plus minimum three venue tour – €1,500
- New Play production by local author (must have at least 5 performances) €2,000.
- New Play Touring production (must have at least 5 performances) plus minimum three venue tour – €2,500 (up to 2x grant awards total in this category)
Amateur Musical Drama Plus 10% extra of the above.
Please note there are no grants for Musical Schools/School’s Musicals
Professional Drama
- Standard Play or Season of Plays – up to €2,000 (based on 4 full performances + Previews)
- Standard Play Touring or Season of Touring Plays – up to (based on 5 full performances + Previews per play in initial venue) plus minimum three venue tour up to €3,500 (2x grant awards total in this category)
- Community Plays or social issue driven plays (Minimum 3 full performances) Up to €1,250
See Playwright and Producer Team grants for new writing.
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RURAL ARTIST’S GRANTS
The development of Rural Arts is to ensure accessibility to the arts for artists and audiences was identified as a specific need in the Waterford City & County Arts Strategy 2016 -2021.
- Innovative projects in any art form will be considered. Proposals from professional arts collectives/groups towards projects are encouraged.
- Please note that Projects focusing on the ongoing or regular output of existing groups cannot be considered under this scheme.
Apply under the normal process but preface your proposal with “Rural Artist’s Grant”
SPECIALIST GRANTS
Playwright & Producer Team Grant
This two-stage grant scheme is part of the Theatre Programme of the Arts Service. We see this as a partnership between a Playwright and a Producer and Waterford City & County Council with the hope of encouraging great drama and outside finances. Please note that you will be applying for the first part which is worth up to €1,750 (not the €4,000 that it may say on the application).
The scheme is based on three tenets:
- To build up a new cannon of Southeast plays
- To enable and empower Southeast playwrights
- To encourage new arts entrepreneurs (producers)
First part Playwright & Producer Team Grant (Worth up to €1,750) applicants must submit:
- A brief synopsis of the proposed project
- A sample scene of a new work
- A detailed synopsis and plot
- Theme/s
- A list of characters (with notes)
- Basic stage setting
- A relevant CV outlining previous creative work
- An agreement with a person or group who will produce including a work timeline for the completion of the script.
These applications will be judged on their merits where preference will be given to plays based in Waterford or the Southeast, or that cover issues pertinent to Waterford or the Southeast. Up to three scripts will be commissioned.
Second part Playwright & Producer Team Grant (Worth up to an additional €1,000 for rehearsed reading or €2,000 towards full production in 2026)
Following the completion of the script and a meeting convened with the Arts Officer responsible for Theatre, the creative team must supply:
- Either a rehearsed reading planned in consultation with the Arts Service (we encourage group readings so we can ask venue managers to attend) or an agreement with a venue(s) to go to full production.
- An exercise consisting of a budgeted and costed proposal for a rehearsal schedule leading towards a budget and costing exercise for a six day run (not required if going into full production).
- Proposed marketing plan including budget and schedule.
Please note:
Waterford City & County Council, through its Arts Service, reserves the right to 1% of Royalties from plays produced through this scheme. This is for the purpose of publishing a compendium of plays from the scheme at a later date.
Waterford City & County Council, through its Arts Service, reserves the right to publish plays that have gone through this scheme. Apart from these two clauses – all performance production rights will remain with the Playwright. By applying for this grant, you are agreeing to these clauses.
This grant is exclusive to its purpose and cannot be used in conjunction with another application (e.g. you will not be eligible to apply for other funding in arts practice grants for the same play).
Screenwriter & Producer Team Grant
This is a two-stage grant scheme – a partnership between a Screenwriter and a Producer and Waterford City & County Council with the hope of making great films and encouraging further finances towards the project. Please note that you will be applying for the first part which is worth €750 (not the €4,000 that it may say on the application).
The scheme is based on four tenets:
- To build up a new cannon of South East films
- To encourage local film production
- To enable and empower South East Screenwriters
- To encourage new arts entrepreneurs (Producers)
First part Screenwriter & Producer Team Grant
Worth approximately €750. Applicants must submit along with their application:
- A brief synopsis of the proposed project that includes a three sentence ‘Pitch’
- A detailed synopsis and plot
- Theme/s
- A list of characters (with notes)
- Basic location settings
- Relevant CVs outlining previous creative work
- An agreement with a person or group who will produce including a work timeline for the completion of the script
Up to five applicants will then be chosen to submit for the second part
Second part Screenwriter & Producer Team Grant (Worth approximately €7,500 each)
The successful applicants from the first part will then be invited to compete for up to two grants that, apart from the financial support, will also receive a Waterford Film Centre bursary that includes 7 days free rental of studio and equipment.
For this WC&CC Arts Service will expect:
- A final and finished script
- A shooting script
- Basic Storyboards
- A list of Locations and Set-Ups
- A detailed budget including all payments and other contributions and ‘in-kind’ sponsorship
- CV’s of Principle people including talent
- A list of equipment required
- Preferred Timeline (this must also include dates for the drawdown of the grant)
- An agreement to supply publicity shots from principal filming
Following this up to two productions may be chosen. Payment will be given on completion of the film or in agreed stages.
ARTS PRACTICE GRANTS WORKSHOP
An in-person workshop for applicants who are considering making submissions for the Arts Practice Grants will be held at the Waterford Gallery of Art, O’ Connell Street, Waterford city on September 16th 2025 at 11am. Pre-registration is not required.