About Festival Grants
Festival Grants are annual grants to support the production, presentation, and operations of arts festivals that have a city-wide impact. This program has two categories, based on years of operation and festival history, each with its own set of documents and guidelines:
This grant program provides operational support for established festivals run by incorporated non-profit arts organizations with a sustained history of festival delivery, and smaller festival grants for emerging arts festivals run by non-profit organizations and collectives.
A festival is defined as a concentrated collection of arts activities with a common theme. Festivals funded through this program must have a primary focus on the arts and may be devoted to one or more artistic discipline(s).
Grant Amounts
Grants awarded to Established Festivals range from $10,000 – $55,000.
Grants awarded to Emerging Festivals range from $10,000 – $20,000.
Eligibility Requirements
All Eligibility requirements can be found within the 2026 CKAF Festival Grant Guidelines document.
CKAF 2026 Established Festival Grant Guidelines
CKAF 2026 Emerging Festival Grant Guidelines
Grant Application Support
The KAC is committed to Indigenization, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IIDEA) and strives to make our granting processes more accessible. Applicants with accessibility needs are encouraged to contact KAC staff as early in the application period as possible to request accommodations for their grant application. Applicant support offered for the CKAF grant program include, but are not necessarily limited to:
- Providing ASL interpretation at all CKAF Information Sessions;
- Facilitating online or in-person meetings, and by request:
- Providing Access Notes for the KAC office for in-person meetings; and/or
- Providing ASL interpretation for individual meetings with applicants, typically hosted via Zoom.
- New to CKAF: Providing financial support of up to $500 for grant writing services for applicants who are Deaf, living with a disability, illiterate, or do not have a working proficiency in English;
- Note: Financial support for CKAF grant writing services must be requested by the applicant and approved by the KAC no less than two weeks prior to the application deadline. Applicants who are approved for this type of support must then submit the service provider’s details to KAC staff, who will coordinate payment with the service provider directly. The applicant is responsible for paying the service provider for any costs exceeding the maximum allowance.
- Providing recommendations for services or tools that may be of use to artists with accessibility needs
Alternate forms of support for grant applications, including alternative submission methods for components of an application, may be considered upon request. Please contact KAC staff if there is another way we can make the grant application process more accessible for you, and we’d be happy to consider it.