£2 million festival support allocated in long-awaited Expo fund expansion

Festivals including the Under Canvas festival in Inverness and the Alchemy Film Festival in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, have been handed financial support of up to £100,000 each for the first time through the newly-named Expanded Festivals Fund.

Dance North Scotland in Findhorn received the largest grant at £92,000, followed by experimental music festival Counterflows, which was given £88,000. Others to receive support include silent film festival HippFest in Bo’ness, StAnza poetry festival in St Andrews and Orkney Folk Festival.

Distributed through Creative Scotland, the original Expo fund, which was last year boosted by £1 million as part of a significant rise in culture funding, previously restricted grants to festivals in Edinburgh and Glasgow. In January 2025, culture secretary Angus Robertson announced the government would look to expand its reach across Scotland.

No timescale was set, but it is believed many festivals had expected the expansion would come at the same time as any increase to the funding pot itself.

In June, however, smaller festivals were disappointed to find they had not been included in the new round of funding, with the Scottish Government saying it would do so in the future. at the same time, 14 festivals in Edinburgh and Glasgow received significant increases in funding.

Announcing the expanded allocation of £1.99m today, Creative Scotland said a number of festivals in Edinburgh and Glasgow are also among the 28 to benefit from the new fund, including Edinburgh’s Hidden Door Festival and Glasgow’s Buzzcut festival.

Culture secretary Mr Robertson said: “Scotland has a wealth of outstanding festivals across the country which lie at the heart of our culture sector and national life. Our festivals’ ambitions and creativity provide focal points for activity and an invaluable platform for artists and performers to showcase their work. They also provide hundreds of millions of pounds to the economy and support a pipeline of jobs and businesses.

“The Expanded Festivals Fund forms part of the Scottish Government’s ongoing commitment to provide an additional £100 million more annually for culture funding by 2028-29. I am heartened to see this fund support incredible projects across Scotland which will increase participation in creative pursuits and ensure festivals can commission and collaborate on new and exciting works.”

Paul Burns, interim director of arts and engagement at Creative Scotland, said: “Scotland’s festivals are a vibrant celebration of our creativity and culture, recognised and enjoyed by local communities and people from around the world.

“The Expanded Festivals Fund is a new opportunity to profile incredible creative work in every corner of the country and support other areas vital to our festivals’ ongoing success. The supported projects reflect the full range of our festivals’ work -including sector and talent development, international collaboration, and the development of new projects with specific groups and communities in their areas.”

Another round of funding allocation under the scheme, for festivals which will receive amounts between £100,000 and £200,000 is set to be announced in May.