Guidelines and Criteria for 2025 - 2026

Definition of a Community Festival

A community festival is a single, or series of outdoor events with a common theme. 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 Community Festival must be delivered within the defined timeframe: 1st April 2025 - 31st March 2026.

The grant scheme encourages events to include local business sponsorship as part of their fundraising, but all financial support will need to be disclosed in the application for the grant or later once confirmed, and associated businesses must not lead on, or provide a large portion of the festival programme.

The criteria

The outcomes of your proposal should aim to:

• take place in the London Borough of Camden
• be outdoors, within a park or open space to encourage access for all communities to participate or attend
• be free to attend
• aim to engage local people, particularly those not currently participating in cultural and community activities in Camden
• engage residents from multiple communities groups on a common theme, to foster greater community cohesion and improve inter-community relationships
• encourage attendees from a diverse range of ethnicities, faiths, abilities, sexual orientations and class to celebrate Camden’s cultural diversity
• be accessible to all - Organisers should consider how they intend to make the activity accessible to those with additional needs, e.g. wheelchair-accessible toilets, use of BSL sign language interpreters, and consider performances and contributions by disabled artists.
• offer opportunities for volunteering and mentoring for Camden residents
• demonstrate that the event is produced in collaboration with other local organisations and that it has backing from a wide range of local community partners
• have evidenced consideration of relevant health and safety regulations and impacts of their activity on the local area.
• Organisers must ensure there is evidence of how the event will be managed along with associated documentation

Themes

This year, we particularly welcome applications that celebrate the events in the 2025/26 cultural calendar, including but not limited to:

• St. Patrick's Day
• VE Day 80th Anniversary
• Camden at 60 (60 years since Camden was made a London Borough)
• Pride
• Windrush
• South Asian Heritage Month
• Black History Season
• International Woman’s Day
• The Jewish Festival calendar

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

• · Local registered charities (based in Camden).
• · Community groups or non-profit making organisations based within Camden

Who cannot apply

• · Schools or educational establishments (including Colleges)
• · Departments within the local authority
• · Business and business representatives
• · Any business acting as agent of behalf of community individuals or organisations

Types of events we cannot fund

• · Activities that have no public benefit for residents
• · Activities that take place outside Camden
• · Indoor activities
• · Activities that promote a political, religious, or extremist views
• · Activities that have already taken place
• · Commercial Festivals i.e. those organised for the purpose of profit, or with significant commercial funding/infrastructure support
• · 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
• · Occasional events such as musical performances or art exhibitions

Project costs we can fund

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

Project costs we cannot fund

• Installation of Christmas lights.
• Indoor events or workshops
• 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. Please Note: All events activities will be promoted on www.lovecamden.org which means your event will be visible to the public.
• · 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).
• · Following the activity, organisers must complete and return a monitoring, evaluation form, and final budget to Camden Events team.

Payment

All grants awarded may be paid within 4 weeks of receipt of invoice if not sooner. All invoices should be sent to Camden Events Service for processing. Please note if your event doesn’t take place funding cannot be rolled over to the following year all events must take place by the end of Camden’s Financial year (March 31^st)

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.