‘Globally recognised music brand/festival’ Derry-bound in September as committee rubber-stamps £10k towards ‘Event B’
A ‘globally recognised music festival’ with the potential of attracting 24,000 visitors to Derry next September is to receive £10,000 from Derry City & Strabane District Council.
Members of the Council Business and Culture Committee rubber-stamped the allocation from the National Events Subvention Fund on Tuesday afternoon.
Last December £25,000 from a total NESF funding pot of £35,000 was separately approved for ‘Event A’, an as yet unnamed large-scale sporting event that is also due to take place in September.
Head of Culture Aeidin McCarter told the committee that since December officers had received a second application for ‘a large-scale music event who had been waiting on match funding detail before they were ready to submit’.
"Event B is an International Music Event planned for September 2026. They scored highly in terms of strategic fit and would also help bring increased media profile and value to the region,” she advised members.
To be eligible for funding from the NESF events must attract more than 5,000 visitors and have an overall budget of over £100,000.
The event scored highly in terms of ‘strategic fit’, according to documents presented to the committee.
It was billed a ‘globally recognised music brand/festival that will take place in an off peak time of year with the potential to attract 24,000 visitors and 399 participants to the city over the course of the weekend, with a projected local economic impact of £1.66 million’.
“In addition to adding a new prestigious event to the city’s cultural calendar, the proposal also offers an opportunity to leverage new investment into the city from other funding sources. There is a significant investment behind this event,” a scoring sheet declared.
Major marketing opportunities are also expected to arise from the event
“Significant media exposure through their digital reach and via broadcasters. For example, previous iterations had 20 million YouTube views and 187 million digital impressions across 85 countries,” the evaluation observed.
Members agreed to allocate the remaining £10,000 from the £35,000 fund to the mystery event.
Previous successful applicants locally included the International Cricket Series, the Yes Festival and the Art of Triumph.