Festivals Grants

The Festivals Grant offered by the South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) is designed to support community-based festivals that increase public engagement and participation in the arts and culture within South Carolina. The grant aims to provide financial assistance to festivals that include identifiable and artistically rich programming. These activities must take place in South Carolina and should reflect a strong arts component through visual, media, performing, literary, or folk and traditional arts. Funded festivals must also ensure public accessibility, offer some free arts programming, and compensate participating artists appropriately. Eligible applicants include most nonprofit organizations (arts and non-arts) and units of government located in South Carolina. Organizations must have a current charity registration with the S.C. Secretary of State’s Office or documentation of exemption, maintain federal tax-exempt status or apply through a qualified fiscal agent, and cannot receive other operating support grants from SCAC during the same fiscal year. Additionally, a valid Unique Entity ID (UEI) must be provided for both applicant and fiscal agent, if applicable. Individuals, universities, and SCAC staff or commissioners are ineligible. Applications must comply with federal and state laws, including prohibitions on obscenity under SC Code § 16-15-305. Grants offer reimbursement funding of up to $7,500 with a required 1:1 match from the grantee, of which up to 50% can be in-kind. Eligible expenses include artist fees, salaries, art installations, programming costs, marketing and outreach, venue rentals, travel, accessibility services, and more. Ineligible expenses cover food, non-arts activities, fundraising events, re-granting, and events restricted to exclusive participation. The grant allows up to 10% for indirect costs, with the remainder needing to directly support the festival project. The application must be submitted through SCAC’s Foundant-based grants portal by April 23, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. The grant performance period spans from August 1, 2026, to May 31, 2027. The program has an annual recurrence. Applications are reviewed in a two-step process: first for completeness and compliance, followed by evaluation using a detailed rubric. Review criteria consider the festival’s history, purpose, activities, implementation team, partnerships, marketing strategy, community engagement, accessibility, and budgeting. To apply, organizations must create an account or log into the Foundant portal and select the “Festivals Grant” application. Required components include at least two support materials and two work samples created within the last five years, such as videos, artist contracts, promotional materials, or venue agreements. AI may be used for editing narrative text but cannot be used to generate artwork or work samples. Award notifications are expected following the SCAC Board meeting in June 2026. For assistance, applicants may contact the SCAC Grants Office at [email protected] or 803.734.8695. Harvee L. White, Public Art Coordinator, can provide pre-application guidance. Priority is given to underserved communities and applicants from SCAC’s Opportunity Initiative Counties, such as Allendale, Marlboro, and Union. Final reports are required at the end of the grant period, and delinquency in reporting or compliance may result in cancellation and repayment of funds.

Use rubric to guide narrative answers; collect and present data showing festival impact; emphasize underserved community engagement