Lisa Simmons, Program Manager
Congratulations to the 118 recipients of Mass Cultural Council’s FY21 Festivals Program grants. In total, $59,000 was awarded to help festival programmers meet the needs of producing, promoting, and developing sustainable audiences. As part of our Community Initiative, we are proud to support these community, cultural, and educational celebrations across the Commonwealth with these investments.
This year, our Festivals award recipients include both virtual/online and in-person festivals that adhere to state guidelines on outdoor gathering. Funding was also made available for audience engagement and audience development work for festivals unable to be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (This year Mass Cultural Council also published a Festivals Toolkit as a guide for improving audience development and engagement.)
Since its inception, the Festivals Program has supported over 250 different festivals.