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B.C. Fairs, Festivals and Events Fund
Last updated on March 13, 2025
On this page
- About the fund
- How the fund works
- Eligibility
- How to apply
- How to use your funding
- Funding recipients
- Get help
About the fund
The B.C. Fairs, Festivals and Events Fund (the BCFFE Fund) helps community event organizations recover from ongoing challenges related to:
- Cost increases
- Reduced revenue and sponsorships
- Rising costs of equipment and services
- Severe weather events
How the fund works
The BCFFE Fund provides up to about 20% of your total event budget, up to a maximum of $250,000 per event. Your event budget must be at least $10,000.
You can use these funds to cover a range of operational expenses.
Depending on the uptake, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport may provide grant amounts higher or lower than 20% of the event budget. The total funding for each event will not exceed $250,000. Total funding per organization will not exceed $500,000.
Application process
Funds are limited and applications are reviewed in the order they are received.
Applications are closed. All decisions are final.
Late or incomplete applications are not accepted.
Contact us if you have questions about eligibility.
Submitting multiple applications
You can submit a maximum of three applications. You must complete a separate application package for each eligible event.
- You cannot submit applications for recurring instances of the same event
- Only one grant will be issued per eligible event
- Two organizations cannot receive grants for the same event
- You will not receive more than $500,000 in total funding
Previous funding from the Tourism Division of the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Sport
Failure to submit a required final report from previous intakes of BCFFE may affect future funding decisions or may result in the repayment of funds to the Province.
2023 BCFFE recipients please note: If your grant was $200,000 and over, you must submit a report within three months following the event. If your grant was under $200,000 you are only required to submit a report if requested by the Ministry.
Events previously funded through the Tourism Division of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport are not eligible for the BCFFE funding within the same calendar year.
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For example, if you received funding for your 2024 event, you are only eligible for 2025 funding, provided your event meets the mandatory criteria
This also applies to events that previously received funding from the BCFFE Fund for an event that was postponed to 2024/25.
Eligibility
Who can apply
You could apply for the fund if you are organizing an eligible event and it meets the eligibility criteria. Your organization must also have been in operation for 1 full year prior to applying to this fund.
Eligible applicants
- Indigenous community or organization
- Not-for-profit organization
- Business
- Local government
Ineligible applicants
- Individuals
- Federal, provincial or territorial governments (and their Crown corporations and agencies)
- Educational institutions, including universities, colleges and school board
- Unions
Mandatory eligibility criteria
Eligible events are scheduled to take place in B.C. between April 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025 and meet the following eligibility criteria.
a. Eligible event types
Eligible events:
- Sporting events and festivals, such as:
- Spectator sport events
- Organized races
- Exhibition events
- Tournaments and competitions
- Arts and culture events and festivals, such as:
- Live music, film, mural, or cultural festivals
- Performances
- Art walks
- Comic conventions
- Community celebrations and gatherings, such as:
- Seasonal festivals or celebration
- Culinary (food or beverage) events
- Fairs, rodeos and exhibitions
- Agri-tourism events, such as:
- Festivals held on farms, orchards or vineyards
Ineligible events:
- Events that are primarily commercial/retail, religious, political or academic in nature, such as:
- Consumer shows
- Trade shows
- Conventions
- Fashion shows
- Meetings and conferences
- Seminars and clinics
- Rallies or demonstrations
- Educational competitions
- Craft fairs or swap meets
- Farmers' markets
- Shows, tours or recurring events held for more than 21 days in a calendar year
- Summer music concert series
- Seasonal spectator sport games/leagues
- Pageants
- Award shows
- Events held at summer camps or training clinics
- Neighbourhood block parties
- Events with the primary purpose of fundraising or contests
- Events in the bid phase
b. Open to the public
- Events must be open to all members of the public. Events only available to the organization's members are not eligible
c. Frequency limit
- Events that take place more than 21 days in a calendar year are not eligible for funding
- If you are hosting a recurring event, such as a series of summer music concerts or a seasonal spectator sport league, your event may be eligible if it occurs fewer than 21 times in a calendar year, whether it takes place consecutively or not
d. Revenue-generation and other funding sources
- To ensure the success of your event, we require you to have other funding sources. This may include revenue from ticket sales, contributions from your organization, private contributions, and other levels of governments
- Event organizers must complete an event budget template that demonstrates anticipated revenue-generating activities, such as ticket sales, entry fees and vendor fees. The budget must also reflect all other funding sources
e. Financial viability
- While event budgets are not required to be balanced, event organizers must complete a budget that demonstrates sufficient cash flow to meet minimum operating costs. Event budgets with significant surpluses or deficits may not receive a grant
f. Minimum operating budget
- Event budgets must demonstrate minimum operating budgets of $10,000
g. Secured venue
- The event venue must be secured at the time of application. Event organizers may be asked to provide evidence that the event venue is secured, such as through municipal permits, rental agreements or other documentation
- Events in the bid phase are ineligible
h. Primary purpose
- The primary purpose of an eligible event cannot be fundraising activities
- Events may contribute to fundraising efforts, such as hosting not-for-profit organizations that are collecting donations at the event venue. BCFFE funds cannot be used for financial contributions to support charities
- Events may host vendor tables, sell merchandise, or sell food and beverage, but this cannot be the primary purpose of the event. This means that consumer shows, trade shows, and craft fairs are ineligible
What your application should show
Community impact and economic benefits
Your application must show how your event provides community and economic impacts to enhance quality of life and community wellness, through:
- Community-wide economic benefits, such as working with local vendors, producers, or securing sponsorship
- Tourism value, such as attracting visitors from outside local areas
- Community engagement, such as working with local artists or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion
Alignment with government priorities
Preference may be given to events that align with the following government priorities:
- Mandate Letter for the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport (PDF, 169KB)
- Mandate Letter for the Parliamentary Secretary of Tourism (PDF, 159KB)
- Mandate Letter for Parliamentary Secretary of Arts and Film (PDF, 158KB)
- Strategic Framework for Tourism 2022-2024: A Plan for Recovery and Resiliency (PDF, 2.7MB)
How to apply
Applications are closed.
You can submit a maximum of 3 applications. Each event requires its own application package.
Applications will not be accepted past the application deadline. No exceptions will be granted. If you have questions, contact us as soon as possible.
You must complete and submit the application form online. Do not print and scan the form. Scanned or incomplete applications will not be accepted.
All decision are final.
The deadline for spending approved grant funding is September 30, 2025.
Your event budget
You must use the event budget template (XSLX, 18KB) to submit your budget. Complete your budget following the event budget template instructions.
The budget must reflect anticipated revenues, other funding sources and expenses. The event budget must also include total operating costs related to the event and should not include the requested BCFFE funding.
Event budgets are not required to be balanced. Event budgets with significant surpluses or deficits may not receive a grant.
How to use your funding
You must indicate your intended use of grant funds on your application. Funds must be spent on eligible expenses directly associated with the event described in your application. Grant funds not spent must be repaid.
Eligible expenses
You can use grant funds to pay for:
- Consultation with Indigenous communities and honorariums for Indigenous community members
- Operational costs directly related to the event execution, such as event staff, volunteer management or equipment rental
- Artists' fees
- Wages or contractor fees for event production
- Health and safety requirements
- Insurance related to event execution
- Venue rental fees
- Marketing and promotion
- Signage and collateral
- Program guides
- Hospitality costs (e.g. food/beverage sold at event)
Ineligible expenses
You can't use grant funds to pay for:
- Operating costs for the organization producing the event (e.g. utilities, debt repayment, office expenses)
- Seed money for start-up businesses
- Capital expenditures (construction, renovation or purchase of property or equipment)
- Feasibility studies
- Fundraising activities
- Gifts
- Prize money
- Legal fees
Event cancellation / change of scope
The Ministry understands events may have to be postponed or cancelled due to wildfires or other emergencies. We are working closely with event organizers of affected events and remain flexible in supporting organizers to use funds for eligible activities in accordance with funding guidelines.
If your event is impacted, please contact the BCFFE team at BCFFE@gov.bc.ca to advise us of any event cancellations or date changes.
Reporting
You must spend all grant funds on the event outlined in your application. If the funds are not fully spent on the event or your event changes substantially in scope, you must contact the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport to discuss your repayment options.
You will be required to submit a post-event report that outlines the following information:
- Total number of attendees
- Total number of jobs supported
- Total number of volunteers engaged
- Description of how grant funds were used
- Description of community impact and/or testimonials
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport will provide you with a report template.
Reports will be due three months after the event concludes. Failure to submit a final report may affect future funding decisions or may result in the repayment of funds to the Province.
Your agreement with the ministry
Funding decisions and payment
Funding decisions will be communicated in writing. Successful applicants will be required to enter into an agreement with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, which will outline the terms of the agreement including reporting requirements and restrictions on the use of funds.
All decisions are final. There is no appeal process for unsuccessful applicants to the fund.
Auditing
Organizations awarded grant funds may also be subject to post-payment audits to ensure compliance with the fund guidelines. Ineligible use of funds or unspent funds may result in grant funds becoming repayable to the ministry.
Funding recipients
In 2024, more than 1,100 events received funding through the BCFFE Fund.
Due to the overwhelming demand and to ensure every eligible applicant received funding, an additional $5 million in Tourism Events Program funding was provided, totaling $20 million for events in B.C.
Get help
Contact the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport with questions.