Edinburgh Council approves £1.12m boost for festivals and new £2.6m Innovate fund

On 17 September 2026 Edinburgh City Council approved a substantial increase to its cultural funding, adding roughly £1.12 million to the existing Third Party Cultural Grants programme. The one-off 25 % uplift will run until March 2028 and covers major partners such as the Edinburgh International Festival, the Book Festival, the Fringe Society and a range of community organisations.

The council also introduced a brand-new Innovate fund of £2.62 million, financed by the Visitor Levy. Applications are set to open the following week, giving eligible arts and cultural bodies the chance to secure additional support. The fund’s stated purpose is to improve organisational resilience, encourage innovative programming and raise the overall cultural output, with successful projects required to demonstrate clear benefits for visitors to the city.

Eligibility rules for the Innovate fund were finalised by the Culture and Communities Committee in May. While the criteria must meet legislative standards, the council has instructed that they be interpreted as broadly as possible. This approach is intended to encourage organisations that do not currently receive Third Party Cultural Grants to apply, widening the pool of potential beneficiaries.

Cllr Margaret Graham, Convener of Culture and Communities, welcomed the decision, noting that the 25 % uplift provides certainty for existing partners over the next year. She also warned that the agreement must not come at the expense of smaller cultural groups, many of which receive no funding at all. Graham said she has long championed youth and community arts and will convene a round-table discussion in the coming weeks to explore a fairer, more sustainable funding model for the future.

The £1.12 million increase forms part of a broader Visitor Levy allocation exceeding £25 million for culture, heritage and events over the next three years. Council officials say the combined investment and focus on innovation creates an ambitious growth programme that will benefit residents, visitors and the city’s cultural organisations alike.