Program Description Festival Funding (1st round)

The Festival Support Fund, implemented for the first time as a support program by Initiative Musik, is designed for festivals in popular music (the term “popular” here also includes jazz and improvised music).

Festivals provide artists with a crucial platform for musical presentation and direct interaction with the audience. They embody both artistic and economic potentials, making them an essential and indispensable part of the music scene and industry for organizers and booking agencies. Festivals also play a significant socio-cultural role in our society. Particularly, small and medium-sized festivals often offer inspiring spaces outside of everyday life in rural areas, serving as identity-building cultural landmarks. They represent a significant source of income for artists and play an essential role in the artistic development of especially emerging talents. This funding program focuses on festivals that emphasize not only musical and artistic quality but also socio-culturally important aspects such as diversity, sustainability, innovation, and talent development.

The Festival Support Fund introduces structured federal support for popular music festivals for the first time. The goal is to support the culturally significant work of festivals, preserve and enhance their artistic diversity, and simultaneously promote essential socio-cultural aspects. The new festival support program enables open funding for music festivals based on qualitative and transparent criteria. The program is particularly aimed at small and medium-sized festivals, which are crucial in the field of nurturing emerging talent, enabling artists to reach their first larger audience and further professionalize. Even large, already established festivals can apply for the Festival Support Fund in this iteration, provided they distinguish themselves through specific qualitative focuses. By doing so, they take on an exemplary role, especially for other large festivals.

The long-term goal of the support fund is the sustainable establishment of festival funding in Germany, covering the entire spectrum of the festival landscape: preserving and supporting the diversity of small and medium-sized festivals and addressing their current needs, as well as providing prospective, longer-term support for individual larger festivals that serve as models through their societal and cultural contributions. The Festival Support Fund aims to encourage states and municipalities to expand their activities in this area and initiate new projects.

1. Grants are awarded in accordance with these funding principles, analogous to §§ 23 and 44 of the Federal Budget Code, and the administrative provisions issued in this regard. Funding is subject to the availability of corresponding funds, as well as any budgetary measures and restrictions imposed by the public grantor. There is no entitlement to the grant. The repeal and recovery of the granted funding, if necessary, are governed analogously by §§ 48 to 49a of the Administrative Procedure Act.
2. The implementation of the funding, including the examination, the conclusion of funding contracts, and the disbursement of the grant, is the responsibility of Initiative Musik gGmbH. The basis is a private-law forwarding agreement. The General Conditions for Grants for Project Funding from the Federal Government (ANBest-P) become part of the grant agreement.

3.1 Formal Criteria

a. Eligible to apply are self-employed individual entrepreneurs as well as legal entities with registered offices in Germany.

b. Eligible to apply are organizers of music festivals (including free and open-air music festivals) in the field of popular music in Germany with national significance. An organizer is defined as the entity that bears the main responsibility for the content, organization, and finances of the festival.

c. The festival should have taken place in 2023, with another edition planned for 2024. For festivals that occur over multiple years, the year of the last edition is considered the reference year (but no earlier than 2019).

d. The festival takes place within a maximum period of three months.

e. Supported are music festivals that are publicly accessible and can demonstrate a minimum of 100 tickets or attendees.

f. The applying festival must demonstrate a clear focus on popular music and jazz in its program planning. (Further information can be found in the FAQ).

g. The festival has a curated overall program under one name, comprising at least five live music program points (artists with their own repertoire and/or artistic DJs).

h. The music festival must not be significantly publicly financed, meaning the organizer received no more than a total of 50% public funds for the basic financing of the festival for the year 2023 (or the year of the last edition). Exceptions are nonprofit organizations.

i. Ineligible to apply are legal entities under public law, as well as legal entities and partnerships in which legal entities under public law are the majority stakeholders.

j. Excluded are events with or without admission fees, whose focus is clearly on local or neighborhood festivals, public festivals, and demonstrations, rather than live music. This includes, in particular, food and beverage stands, general merchandising (beyond souvenirs), and children and family entertainment offerings (e.g., no fair or carnival character) that must be in reasonable proportion to a typical live music festival. (More details can be found in our FAQ.)

k. Excluded are (street) festivals primarily serving competitive evaluations or education and training purposes (e.g., summer academies, band contests, or masterclasses).

l. Events that disseminate unconstitutional, illegal, or criminal content and set youth-endangering priorities in their program planning are excluded from funding.

m. As a funding platform advocating for equality, diversity, and cultural participation in music (see general funding conditions), Initiative Musik reserves the right to question the eligibility for funding and withdraw funding commitments for music festivals that spread degrading content or ideologies of inequality.

3.2 Qualitative Criteria

The music festival for which an application for funding is submitted must exhibit a distinct thematic focus. These focal points should have already been initiated or implemented prominently in the 2023 festival edition or the most recent edition held. The main responsible organizer can choose one or more (up to three) thematic focus points for the application from the following:

a) Appropriate conditions for all artists performing at the music festival (appropriateness determined, among other factors, by the level of professionalism of the artists – more details in the FAQ);

b) Special support for emerging artists (e.g., mentoring projects for newcomers, a minimum number of emerging musicians per edition, etc.);

c) Outstanding commitment to the inclusion of underrepresented groups in the music industry in program planning (e.g., through gender-balanced representation of artists, collaboration with booking collectives, or agencies representing underrepresented groups);

d) Advocacy for inclusion, participation, and accessibility (e.g., predominantly barrier-free designed festival);

e) Concept and already implemented strategies for ecological sustainability and climate protection (e.g., calculation and transparent communication of CO2 emissions);

f) Civil society engagement (e.g., targeted workshops and program offerings for underrepresented audience groups, socially responsible pricing, creation of safe meeting spaces – “Safer Spaces”);

g) Special formats for personnel development (e.g., training and further education opportunities, generational transitions);

h) Support for regional structures (e.g., collaborations with local businesses, involvement of regional cultural initiatives and networks);

i) Strengthening democratic structures (e.g., through special program formats, workshops, informational material on the topic);

j) Originality in the musical program selection, platform for musical niches, and experimental formats.

a) Festivals with a special qualitative focus are eligible for funding. It is assumed that the qualitative focuses presented in the application will continue or be further developed in 2024.

b) Funding is provided on a one-time and project-specific basis. The maximum grant amount is determined by project-related and eligible expenses: The funding share is calculated on a degressive basis. As the total expenses increase, the percentage of funding decreases, and the self-contribution increases accordingly:

• Project expenses must be at least EUR 10,000 – in this case, the maximum possible funding share is up to 90% of the eligible total expenses. The self-contribution to be demonstrated is at least 10%.
• Once project expenses reach EUR 100,000, the maximum possible grant amount of EUR 50,000 is reached – in this case, the maximum possible funding share is 50% of the eligible total expenses. The self-contribution to be demonstrated is at least 50%.
• Project expenses can be up to a maximum of EUR 500,000. The maximum limit of the grant amount is always EUR 50,000. (The possible grant amount can be calculated using the funding calculator.)
• Festivals with an attendance of 100 to 15,000 people can apply for either a partial project or a full project. The funding subject of a full project is the implementation of the entire festival.
• Festivals with an attendance of over 15,000 people can only apply for a partial project in this program. The funding subject of a partial project is the implementation of the qualitative focuses within the festival.
• If the approved grant amount is up to EUR 20,000, funding is provided as a lump-sum financing. If the approved grant amount exceeds EUR 20,000, funding is provided as a needs-based financing. (More details in the FAQ).

For all applying festivals:

c) Co-financing can be provided through designated third-party contributions (including sponsorships, donations), and through own funds as well as (non-cash) own contributions. Complementary funding, such as from state and municipal funds, is explicitly encouraged. Co-financing by institutions that distribute funds from the budget of the Commissioner of the Federal Government for Culture and Media (BKM) is excluded.

d) Ticket sales revenue and personnel costs, if reasonably attributable to the music festival (e.g., time sheets, percentage of personnel deployment), count towards the self-contribution. Civic engagement in the form of voluntary, unpaid work can be included as a fictitious expense in the basis for the grant. For each hour worked, this is considered at EUR 15. The amount of fictitious expenses for civic engagement must not exceed 20% of the total expenses.

e) Project-related overhead costs (general administration) should not exceed 10% in relation to the total expenses.

f) Institutional funding is excluded. Institutional funding refers to the financing of the infrastructure or ongoing activities of existing or newly planned institutions (e.g., event venues, ensembles, associations, foundations). Construction projects are also excluded.

a) The funding is provided within the framework of project support as a non-repayable grant. Analogous to §§ 48 to 49a of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG), the relevant provisions apply to the potential revocation and recovery of the granted funding. These corresponding regulations are incorporated into the concluded funding agreements.

b) The funding commitment can be revoked if the proof of use is not submitted within 3 months after the end of the project period.

c) Ongoing or already completed projects cannot be funded; therefore, the project must not have commenced before the conclusion of the funding contract with Initiative Musik. This means that service or supply contracts must not have been concluded. Necessary planning activities prior to this are permissible and are not considered as commencement of a project. Additionally, the funding application can be combined with a request for a non-detrimental early commencement of measures. (Further information is available in the FAQ).

d) The funded projects must take place within the project period. This period typically commences with the conclusion of the funding contract (but no earlier than the submission of the application if an application for a non-detrimental early commencement of measures is requested and approved) and ends for all recipients in this program on December 31, 2024.

e) Only measures that are compatible with EU state aid law under Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) will be funded. This program is compatible with the internal market as cultural aid according to Article 53(2)(d) of the General Block Exemption Regulation (AGVO) within the meaning of Article 107(3) TFEU, and it is exempt from notification under Article 108(3) TFEU, provided that the potentially applicable provisions of the AGVO are observed. Funding under this directive shall not be granted to an enterprise that has failed to comply with a recovery order based on a previous decision of the Commission finding the illegality and incompatibility with the internal market of aid granted by the same Member State.

a) Grants are provided upon application.

b) The grant application is completed and submitted online through the funding portal of Initiative Musik. The application must be accompanied by the documents specified in the application form, which are to be uploaded. The procedural details for submitting applications are thoroughly explained in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), which serve to elucidate this program description.

c) The online application period runs from November 6, 2023, to December 18, 2023.

d) The application is to be submitted online, and not by mail. If this poses a barrier for individual applicants, an application can be submitted by mail after consultation (see FAQ).

e) Only complete and formally correct applications will be considered in the subsequent application process. Any missing documents will be requested. Applications are deemed formally properly submitted only when all supporting documents for the application are available for examination.

f) Complete applications, verified for formal correctness, will be submitted for review to a specialist jury.

a) The allocation of funds is determined by the Supervisory Board of Initiative Musik gGmbH based on the recommendation of an independent and diverse expert jury. Diversity in the composition specifically pertains to the following aspects: gender, professional background, musical focus, ethnic background, and age.

b) Applications are evaluated solely based on the submitted documents. The decision of Initiative Musik gGmbH is final, and no justification will be provided. The decision on the application will be communicated to the applicants in writing. Legal recourse is excluded.

a) The funding commitment becomes effective through the conclusion of a funding contract with Initiative Musik.

b) Upon the conclusion of the funding contract, it is possible to access funds for the supported project. Initiative Musik retains 10% of the approved grant amount until the successful examination of the usage evidence. (Further information on accessing the funding is available in the FAQ).

c) The funds must always be spent within 6 weeks after accessing them. It is also possible to make advance payments.

d) Three months after the project’s end, but no later than March 31, 2025, the usage evidence for the project must be submitted. The funding project is considered completed only after the successful examination of the usage evidence. In the event that the usage evidence is not submitted on time or is incomplete, the funding commitment will be withdrawn. As a result, the entire funding will be forfeited, and repayments may become due.

The conditions of the funding program described here come into effect on the day of their publication and apply until December 31, 2025.