Germany to bolster festivals with €5m fund

Germany has introduced the first federal funding programme for popular music festivals, totalling €5 million.

The new funding programme, launching this November, is primarily aimed at small and medium-sized festivals.

Organisers of the latter can apply for a non-repayable grant ranging between €9,000–50,000 if they meet specific criteria.

The number of visitors must be at least 100 but cannot exceed 15,000, and project expenses must be a minimum of €10,000.

In this case, the maximum possible funding share is up to 90% of the total eligible expenditure, i.e. €9,000.

From project expenditures of €100,000, the maximum possible funding amount of €50,000 is reached – here the maximum possible funding share is therefore 50% of the total eligible expenditure.

Large festivals can also apply for funding but the project expenditure must be no more than €500,000. Festivals with more than 15,000 visitors can only apply for funding for one sub-project under this programme.

“This fund is also a cultural-political commitment to the social importance of popular music”

An expert jury will decide on the recipients of the funding based on “the implementation and expansion of qualitative and socio-culturally significant aspects,” such as diversity, ecological sustainability or the promotion of young talent.

A focus on musical niches, commitment to participation and accessibility, and appropriate conditions for performing artists are also highly prioritised.

Minister of state for culture, Claudia Roth, says: “The barbaric attack by the Hamas terrorist group on the Supernova Festival was also an attack on the values ​​of a democratic society. Because music festivals are identity-forming places of encounter and joy of life, places of diversity, openness and tolerance.

“We also need to strengthen these values. Therefore, with our funding programme for music festivals, we not only focus on artistic quality, but also on social aspects such as sustainability, educational work and diversity. Fundamentally, this fund is also a cultural-political commitment to the social importance of popular music. Our goal is to support the pop music scene in fully exploiting its cultural and social potential.”

German associations – LiveKomm, the Federal Jazz Conference and BDKV – have welcomed the new funding programme.

“As essential places for our culture and society, small to medium-sized festivals in particular are laboratories for music and launching pads for many careers. They create community and identity, they inspire and make us happy, they allow us to experiment and utopias become reality.

“The festival funding fund supports all of these aspects and is therefore unique in its idea. We are convinced that it can also help protect and strengthen the festival landscape in Germany in the long term and at the same time promote the innovative strength of the industry.”

The application phase for the festival funding runs from 6 November to 15 December 2023 via the Initiative Musik funding portal.

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