Perform Europe Grants 2026. €1.4 Million Is Available for Performing Arts Partnerships Across Europe — But This Isn’t a Standard Touring Grant
The European performing arts sector has a touring problem that most people in it already know about.
Shows travel along the same established routes. Funding flows to the same cities. Partners in smaller or peripheral regions rarely get meaningful access. Carbon footprints from international touring are rarely examined seriously. And the economics of cross-border mobility frequently benefit presenters more than artists.
Perform Europe was built specifically to challenge that model — and its 2026 open call, now live with €1.4 million available, is the most direct expression of that challenge yet.
This isn’t a grant for moving a finished show from one country to another. It’s funding for partnerships that can demonstrate a genuinely different approach to how performing arts work travels across borders — fairer, greener, more inclusive, and more regionally connected.
The deadline is 22 October 2026. Here’s what you need to know.
Perform Europe Grants Funding Breakdown
Perform Europe will distribute €1.4 million across at least 25 selected partnerships in this round.
Applications fall into three grant categories:
| Grant Type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Small Grant | €15,000 |
| Medium Grant | €25,000 |
| Large Grant | €55,000 |
Partnerships can also apply for additional top-up funding of up to €5,000 per proposal to cover sustainability and accessibility needs. These top-ups can be combined within that €5,000 ceiling.
Maximum possible funding per partnership: €60,000 (large grant + full top-up).
One allocation worth noting: 5% of total funding is reserved for proposals involving Ukrainian partners or initiatives connected to the Ukrainian performing arts sector.
What Perform Europe Grants Is Actually Looking For
Every proposal must align with one of two core priorities:
- Inclusion and Diversity
- Fight Against Climate Change
Applicants choose one as their primary focus — but the call makes clear that the other priority cannot be ignored entirely.
A project centred on inclusion still needs to show environmental awareness. A climate-focused project still needs to demonstrate commitment to access and fairness. The two priorities are designed to be in conversation with each other, not treated as separate boxes to check.
Beyond the priority framework, successful proposals are expected to show quality, artistic innovation, fair working practices, and genuine collaboration across the Creative Europe network.
What Perform Europe is not looking for — and this is worth stating clearly — is a conventional touring project dressed up in new language. The call is explicitly designed to fund partnerships that can demonstrate a different model of cross-border mobility. Proposals that simply describe taking an existing show to three new countries are unlikely to be competitive.
What Gets Funded — And What Doesn’t
This is where applicants most commonly miscalculate, so it deserves direct attention.
Perform Europe will fund:
- Partnerships built around a completed artistic work that is ready to travel and be presented in multiple contexts
- Partnerships built around an artistic concept that is already fully developed and ready to be adapted and shared across different European settings
- Projects that will be presented in at least three different Creative Europe countries
- Proposals from organisations and professionals legally based in any of the 41 Creative Europe countries
Perform Europe will not fund:
- Production costs for brand-new creations — if the work doesn’t exist yet in a presentable form, this call isn’t the right mechanism
- Applications from a single organisation working alone — all applications must be submitted by partnerships
- Projects in live music or opera — these fields are explicitly excluded from this call
- Proposals from organisations based outside the 41 Creative Europe countries
Eligible Art Forms
The call is open across the performing arts sector, including:
- Theatre
- Dance
- Performance
- Circus
- Outdoor arts
- Puppetry
- Interdisciplinary performing arts
Live music and opera are not included. If your work sits at the intersection of disciplines, check carefully whether your primary practice falls within the eligible categories before investing time in an application.
The 41 Creative Europe Countries
Eligibility extends beyond the European Union. The Creative Europe network includes all 27 EU member states plus 14 non-EU countries participating in the program.
If you’re based in a non-EU European country and unsure whether your country is part of the network, verify your country’s status on the official Creative Europe website before proceeding with an application.
Key Dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Open Call Launched | 23 June 2026 |
| Application Deadline | 22 October 2026 at 23:59 CEST |
| Results Announced | January 2027 |
| Projects Begin | 1 March 2027 |
| Projects Must End By | 31 January 2028 |
The project window — March 2027 to January 2028 — is roughly ten months. That timeline should inform how you scope the partnership’s activities and what is realistically achievable within a funded period of that length.
Official Link
Building a Competitive Proposal
The funding tiers are clearly defined. The priorities are clearly stated. What’s less obvious is what separates proposals that get selected from those that don’t.
A few things worth thinking through before you write:
Your partnership structure matters as much as your artistic work. Perform Europe is looking for genuine collaboration — not a lead organisation with passive partners attached for eligibility purposes. Proposals that show real shared decision-making, equitable benefit distribution, and meaningful involvement from all partners across different Creative Europe regions tend to be more convincing.
The dual-priority framework is a test of your thinking, not just your compliance. Applicants who choose inclusion as their primary focus and then add a brief environmental paragraph at the end are not engaging with the call’s intent. The stronger proposals will show how the two priorities actually connect within the specific context of their project.
The “finished work” requirement is firm. If you’re hoping to use this funding to develop something new, this isn’t the right call. Perform Europe funds the movement and presentation of work that is already ready — not the creation of it.
The top-up funding is genuinely available and often overlooked. If your proposal involves meaningful accessibility measures or sustainability commitments — low-carbon travel planning, accessible venue requirements, sign-interpreted performances — the additional €5,000 is there to support exactly that. Don’t leave it on the table by failing to articulate those needs clearly.
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