Guidelines and Criteria for 2024 – 2025

Definition of a Community Festival

A community festival is a single or series of events with a common theme and delivered within a defined time. It should be initiated and led by a not-for-profit community organisation or a community-led partnership, and be run for the community to celebrate and positively promote the community.

The grant scheme encourages events to include local business sponsorship as part of their fundraising. Associated businesses can provide a small amount of the festival content; however, this cannot make up the bulk of event programme.

The criteria

The outcomes of your proposal should aim to:

• Foster greater community cohesion and improve inter-community relationships through allowing residents to engage in an event on a common theme. While events from single community groups are welcome, the application must demonstrate that the event will target multiple communities as part of the developing neighbourhood cohesion.
• Engage with and be relevant to diverse participants from multiple communities from a range of ethnicities, faiths, abilities, sexual orientation and class to celebrate Camden’s cultural diversity.
• Demonstrate that it is a community-led event open to the whole of the community.
• Events should predominantly take place within a park or open space to encourage the whole community to feel welcome to participate.
• Events should be free to attend.
• Events must take place in the London Borough of Camden.
• Engage local people not currently participating in cultural and community activities in Camden. Events should showcase the vibrancy of the local cultural offer and activities to encourage the community to access the cultural resources available in the neighbourhood.
• Demonstrate that the event is produced in collaboration with other local organisations, and that it has backing from a wide range local community partners.
• Offer opportunities for volunteering and mentoring for Camden residents.
• Demonstrate that it is a well-managed event and that the organisers have considered the impacts and safety of their festival.

Themes

This year, we particularly welcome applications that celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Pride, Windrush, South Asian Heritage Month, Black History Season, and the Olympics and Paralympics.

Access

Applicants should ensure their event is welcoming and accessible to the widest community in Camden. You should consider how you intend to make your event accessible to people with disabilities, e.g. wheelchair accessible toilets, use of BSL sign language interpreters, and consider performances and contributions by disabled creatives.

Who can apply

• Registered charities based and resident within the London Borough of Camden.
• Community groups or non-profit making organisations based and resident within the London Borough of Camden.
• Camden residents.

Who cannot apply

• Schools or educational establishments including colleges.
• Departments within the local authority.
• Business and business representatives.

Types of events we cannot fund

• Activities that have no public benefit for residents.
• Occasional events such as musical performances or art exhibitions.
• Commercial Festivals i.e. those organised primarily for the purpose of profit.
• Festivals whose primary purpose is to promote local business, or the content is primarily local business.
• Festivals which are primarily fundraising events for community organisations.
• Festivals which are primarily social events for an organisation.
• Activities that promote a political, religious, or extremist view.
• Activities that take place outside Camden.
• Activities that have already taken place.

Project costs we can fund

• Artists fees.
• Contribution to the cost of planning and delivery.
• Publicity and marketing costs.
• Hire or purchase of equipment and facilities, PA systems, sanitary provisions, lighting, staging, security and safety measures and costs relating to the training of volunteers.

Project costs we cannot fund

• Installation of Christmas lights.
• Development or maintenance of websites unless it is linked to virtual community cohesive events.
• Capital material costs.
• Regular core running costs, loan repayments or VAT.

Conditions of the grant

If your application is successful, the following conditions will apply:

• All publicity, marketing, promotion, and online media must acknowledge funding by the Camden Council Community Festival Fund.
• The Camden Council logo and Love Camden logo will be supplied and must be used on all printed material; where appropriate other funders can also be credited.
• Separate permissions and a contract for use of space is required from Camden Council events team for the use of Camden Council managed Parks and Open spaces, Housing Estates, or streets. You will be asked to submit an online application for this permission on Event App, if your funding request is agreed.
• Private landowners must offer permission for use of space if the land is privately owned or managed.
• Licenses are required for certain activities to take place. It is the event organiser’s responsibility to make sure these are successfully applied for. Please contact us if you are unsure of licensing conditions in relation to your event.
• Those working with or providing activities for children, young people and vulnerable adults must ensure that staff, artists or volunteers working unsupervised with children, young people or vulnerable adults have a Disclosure and Barring Service certificate (DBS).
• All events activities will be promoted on www.lovecamden.org
• (Which means you will automatically have information about your event visible to the public).
• Following the event / project / activity, organisers must complete and return a monitoring, evaluation form, and final budget to Camden Events team. This evaluation submission is vital to the process.

Payment

All grants awarded will be paid within 4 weeks of receipt of invoice if not sooner. All invoices should be sent to Camden Events Service for processing.

Contact

For advice or for any questions you have, please email events@camden.gov.uk.

Please note: the application form can be downloaded for offline editing, with a Google account. If you do not have a Google account, please contact Camden Events for the form.