Councillors today (17 September 2026) voted in favour of measures to support cultural partners across the city – including the opportunity to apply for funding from a pot of over £2.6 million.
A one-off 25 percent increase in funding, totalling approximately £1.065 million, was agreed for existing Third Party Cultural Grants partners, including the Edinburgh International Festival, Book Festival, and the Fringe Society as well as community organisations.
The funding extension runs until March 2028, with a fully redesigned cultural funding programme for subsequent years to be agreed next year.
Extra support for all eligible cultural and arts organisations, including those operating at a local community level, will be available via the new £2.62m Innovate fund, supported by the Visitor Levy, which will open for applications next week.
The aim of the Fund is to improve resilience, support programming innovation and enhance cultural output for successful applicants, who will also need to demonstrate how the project will benefit visitors to the city.
It was agreed that eligibility criteria for applications, which were agreed by Culture and Communities Committee in May, should be viewed in the broadest way possible while still meeting legislative rules, and that organisations not currently funded by the Third Party Cultural Grants should be encouraged to apply. This will enable a wider variety of groups and organisations to make the most of funds on offer.
The funding agreed today is part of a broader transformational allocation of Visitor Levy funding for Culture, Heritage and Events worth over £25m over the next three years.
This combination of sustained investment and focus on innovation is creating an ambitious programme of growth that will benefit, visitors, residents and the city’s cultural organisations.
Cllr Margaret Graham, Culture and Communities Convener said:
I have listened and heard the views and feedback of our cultural partners in recent weeks and the 25% uplift they have secured will provide certainty for the next year.
I was absolutely clear, however, that this agreement could not be at the expense of our smaller cultural organisations across the city – many of which receive no funding at all. I have been a long time advocate of young people and communities and I know first-hand the value of local arts groups across the city.
The funding package we agreed today will see all our cultural partners benefit, whatever their size or stature, but we need to find a fairer and more sustainable way of doing business in future – something that will high on the agenda at the round table discussion I will be calling in the coming weeks.