The calls for applications that recently opened offer operating grants for continuous activities as well as development grants for finding new approaches. Project grants, which are suitable for shorter-term projects, are open for application throughout the year, and the related tentative decision-making schedules for autumn 2026 have recently been published. Additionally, we offer grants to educational institutions that provide basic education in the arts. For these grants, the call for applications will open in September.
Operating grants
The call for operating grant applications for activities organised throughout the year opened on Monday 16 June 2025 and will run until Monday 1 September 2025 at 16.00. The decisions on operating grants will be made in two parts, similarly to the procedure followed in 2025. The Culture and Library Sub-committee will decide on the recipients of the operating grant for 2026 at its meeting in December 2025. For operators that received the operating grant in 2025 and for which it will be proposed, based on applications, that they also be awarded the operating grant in 2026, a part of the operating grant will be awarded as an advance payment. The amount of this advance payment is 25 per cent of the operating grant awarded to the operator in 2025.
The Culture and Library Sub-committee will decide on the final amounts of the operating grants and grants for basic education in the arts to be awarded in 2026 at its first meeting of the year in January–February 2026.
Development grants
Development grants are awarded for development projects that meet a need for development identified in the culture scene and that benefit the art and culture scene beyond the implementer and support the City’s strategic and cultural policy objectives. A productive development project has identified both a need for development and a clear goal, the realisation of which is also measured through indicators. The goal of the activities is to create something fundamentally new.
The call for applications for development grants started on Monday 16 June 2025 and will run until Monday 1 September 2025 at 16.00. This application period also applies to applications for the continuation of multi-year development grants and Helsinki Model development grants. The Culture and Library Sub-committee will make the decisions at its meeting in November 2025.
Grants for basic education in the arts
The call for applications for grants for basic education in the arts and development grants for basic education in the arts will open on Wednesday 3 September 2025 and run until Thursday 25 September 2025 at 16.00. Similarly to the operating grants, the decisions will be made in two parts. The Culture and Library Sub-committee will decide on the development grants for basic education in the arts at its meeting in November 2025.
Tentative processing schedules for project grants in autumn 2026 have been published
Project grants are awarded for art and cultural activities open to the public that take place in Helsinki. Of the different grants for culture, the project grant is the only grant category that is open not only to registered operators but also working groups and private individuals.
The call for applications for project grants is continuous, but they are generally awarded for the current year. The tentative decision-making schedules are now available on the project grants webpage. However, you can apply for the project grant in advance in 2025 for projects in which the first segment available to the public will take place during the first three months of 2026. The Culture and Library Sub-committee will discuss these types of projects at its meeting in December 2025, and the related application period runs from 11 August to 24 September 2025 at 16.00. In 2026, the Culture and Library Sub-committee will process project grant applications for the first time at its meeting in January–February. In order for us to process an application at this meeting, we must have received it by Monday 8 December at 16.00.
