The City of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales is opening a new round of funding to support local arts, culture and community projects for the 2025/26 funding cycle. The program — promoted in briefings for the cycle as “Pitch It, Fund It, Create It” — consolidates the City’s Arts & Cultural Development Grants and Event Funding streams and aims to help local creatives, community groups and visitors by supporting festivals, public murals, workshops and other activities that deliver clear community and cultural benefits.
Individual artists, community groups and not-for-profit organisations can apply for grants of between $1,000 and $7,000 per project. Mayor Nikki Williams has framed the funding as a way to help grow the local creative economy and broaden the city’s cultural offerings; as the briefing noted, “The arts and culture are a key part of who we are in our increasingly diverse and cosmopolitan community. Artists and community groups with solid plans for an event in 2025/26 should put their hand up.”
Applications for the 2025/26 cycle open on 3 February 2026 and close on 17 March 2026, and an information session for prospective applicants is scheduled at Yarrila Place on 12 February 2026.
The council is seeking projects that demonstrably provide benefit to the community; past recipients have included Divali workshops at the Woolgoolga Art Gallery and Indigenous- and garden-themed murals at the South Coffs Community Garden. Successful applicants should be able to deliver their projects through 2026, contributing to a more active and culturally diverse city.
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