The British Council is announcing the second iteration of the Festival Connect Fund 2025: Empowering Cultural Collaboration Between Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK

The British Council is pleased to announce the second iteration of the Festival Connect Fund 2025, an initiative designed to strengthen cross-regional partnerships and collaborations between Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the United Kingdom. This fund aims to foster artistic exchange, mobility, and innovation in festival-making and cultural exchange. Festivals serve as vital platforms for cultural expression, community engagement, and economic development, bringing people together, fostering creativity, and stimulating local economies through tourism and job creation.

Key Details:

• Funding Available: Up to £100,000 per project
• Application Deadline: 27 June 2025
• Information Session: 26 May 2025

Eligible Countries:

• Sub-Saharan Africa: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
• United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Objectives of the Festival Connect Fund:

The Festival Connect Fund seeks to achieve the following objectives:

1. Create Opportunities for Cross-Regional Collaboration: Facilitate partnerships between festival peers in Africa and internationally that can lead to future creative collaborations, co-commissions, and partnership projects.
2. Support Festival-Making and Artistic Expressions: Encourage community engagement during festivals that can lead to meaningful social and economic impact.
3. Provide Space for Experimentation with Creative Technology: Develop new experiences through digital festivals and other innovative formats.
4. Build New Cross-Regional Collaborations: Focus on access to the market and the potential of festivals in bridging cultures in Africa and internationally.
5. Improve the Festival Value Chain: Target tour-ready work and support the professionalization of festival management through capacity-building.
6. Support Mobility for Festival Directors, Curators, and Managers: Facilitate professional exchanges and development within Africa.
7. Develop Data-Driven Innovation and Research: Inspire innovations from creators in artistic work, audience experiences, or research products and services that use/generate data.

Funding Information:

A total of £200,000 is available for festivals in the eligible countries to support collaborations, exchanges, mobility, and showcasing on scales ranging from £10,000 to £40,000 maximum per application. A maximum of two applications will be accepted per festival.

There are three tiers of funding available:

• Tier One: Festivals can apply for grants to the value of £10,000.
• Tier Two: Festivals can apply for grants of no less than £10,000 but not exceeding £20,000.
• Tier Three: Festivals can apply for grants of no less than £20,000 but not exceeding £40,000. Festivals applying for tier three grants must be able to demonstrate their capacity to manage grants and provide supporting evidence with their applications.

Eligible Activities:

Festivals can apply for the following activities:

• Commissioning, co-production, development, or presentation of new or remounted work from across countries in Africa and internationally. These may include live/in-person and digital components.
• Community engagement programs/arts events alongside the festival.
• Other associated activities including mobility and travel to support festival development, partnership building, etc., that support the festival program.
• Administrative and technical costs towards managing/producing the festival, up to 30% of the grant amount applied for.

Strategic Outcomes Expected:

The British Council expects the Festival Connect Fund to help achieve the following strategic outcomes between 2024 and 2027:

• New festival partnerships and exchanges developed, and existing ones strengthened between festivals in Africa and/or the United Kingdom, artists, curators, and managers.
• Increased public engagement through access to regional and international artists.
• African festivals connecting to showcase work to support collaborative projects.
• The development of a network of festival curators and managers and represented festivals across the region.
• Access to data-driven research on the festival sector in Africa to foster an understanding of festivals in operation in the region and strengthen collaborations, engagements, and networks in the wider festival ecosystem.
• Shaping communities, catalyzing artistic innovation, and contributing to social impact.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Festivals must be based in one of the eligible countries.
• Festivals must have been in operation for at least two biennales or three editions, inclusive of both physical and digital editions.
• Proposals must involve collaboration between a festival in Sub-Saharan Africa and a festival, artist, or organization in the United Kingdom.
• Activities should take place between May 2024 and April 2025.

How to Apply:

Interested festivals should submit their applications via the British Council’s online portal here. The application deadline is 27 June 2025. An information session will be held on 26 May 2025 to provide further details and answer any questions.

For more information and to apply, visit the British Council’s official website: https://www.britishcouncil.org/arts/partner/sub-saharan-africa/culture-connects.

Conclusion:

The Festival Connect Fund 2025 offers a unique opportunity for festivals in Sub-Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom to collaborate, innovate, and engage with diverse audiences. By fostering cross-regional partnerships and supporting creative endeavors, the fund aims to enhance the cultural and economic vitality of communities through the transformative power of festivals.

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Disclaimer: Global South Opportunities (GSO) is not the hiring company. For any inquiries, please contact the hiring organization directly. Please do not send your applications to GSO, as we are unable to process them. Due to the high volume of emails we receive daily, we may not be able to respond to all inquiries. Thank you for your understanding.

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