Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Annual Funding Programme 2027/28 Open for applications

The Annual Funding Programme (AFP) supports Northern Ireland’s arts infrastructure through grants to organisations in all artforms and practices for their core and programming costs.

AFP is one of the Arts Council’s core programmes and aligns with our 10-year Strategic Plan for developing the arts (https://artscouncil-ni.s3-assets.com/acni-10-year-strategy-2024-34.pdf) and in particular our outcome of creating ‘a more financially stable arts sector’. Organisations in receipt of AFP funding will be key to helping us achieve all the outcomes set out in our 10-year Strategic Plan and we expect all awardees to support us in delivering those outcomes.

Those eligible to apply include:

• Non-profit distributing organisations which can demonstrate they require a year-round resource to deliver arts programming.
• New applicants to the Annual Funding Programme must have been in receipt of and fully completed a single award of at least £10,001 from ACNI since 1 April 2024 in order to be eligible for the scheme and must contact the appropriate ACNI arts officer* to discuss their application prior to submission and by 5pm on Friday 11 December 2026 at the latest. Please make prior contact with the Arts Council before submitting an application otherwise an application will be ineligible.

*Important: Previous discussions that may have taken place with an Arts Development Officer prior to the opening of the AFP programme do not constitute the required contact. You must make contact with the relevant officer once guidance notes have been published and before the stated deadline of 5pm on Friday 11 December 2026.

Online applications are now open and will close at 12noon Monday 21 December 2026. To read the guidance notes and make an online application, please visit https://artscouncil-ni.org/funding-for-organisations/annual-funding-programme-2027-28

Guidance Notes may also be requested in large print or other accessible formats if required. Please contact [email protected] if you need further assistance in this regard, including alternative language versions. You can also contact that address if you have any queries about any aspect of the programme or its application requirements.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland recently launched a new Arts Impact section on our website. Arts Impact offers reports, official statistics and case studies that can help all of us tell the story of the outcomes of public investment in the arts. View Arts Impact here - https://artscouncil-ni.org/resources/arts-impact