Stimuleringsfonds

With the Creative Industries Festivals Grant Scheme, the Fund aims to support festivals that increase interest in design, architecture and digital culture and stimulate the development of these creative disciplines. The grant scheme concerns large-scale events that inspire both professionals and a wide audience.

14 januari 2026

General impression

In November 2025, the advisory committee met to discuss 31 project proposals for 2026, of which 21 were eventually selected. Many of the selected festivals are more than just cultural events. They connect local communities, encourage craftsmanship or contribute to the development of sustainable creative ecosystems. The chosen themes mostly shed light on the role of design and creativity in societal issues, such as those involving technology.

Imagine Film Festival is exploring with Ghost in the Feed: The Five Frequencies of Fear the fears that media technologies have evoked over the years. As a pretext, the festival cites the widely felt fear of blurring the boundaries between reality and fiction, especially in relation to AI. Kaboom Festival 2026 is also focusing on technology, but from a different angle. The central question is: what makes handcrafting unique in an age when machines can imitate animation? The programme Human Touch explores how human touch shapes animation. For instance, brush strokes, embroidery stitches or fingerprints in clay. These are visible traces of a maker that communicate something, such as doubt, rhythm or intention. The festival seeks to highlight the tension between these human-made textures and the polished aesthetics of AI-generated images.

Sustainability is another notable recurring theme. The Groene Hart Biënnale, an international festival for art, design and ecological regeneration, aims to connect innovative practices from regenerative art and design with citizen-led initiatives. By means of creative interventions, the festival wants to contribute to the recovery and revitalisation of local ecosystems. The first edition will take place in spring 2026.

Living Crafts, a new multi-day event on Curaçao, also touches on the theme of sustainability, but places the intertwining of culture and community at the centre. The festival wants to deepen the social and narrative aspect of crafts and engage audiences in the making process. The aim is to make the historical and contemporary meanings of local materials and raw materials visible and tangible.

selectie

Other selected projects are:

Rewire 2026 - Stichting Unfold
Stichting Unfold is organising the 15th edition of the annual international festival Rewire in 2026. Focusing on innovative music and sound art, the festival takes place at various locations in The Hague. Besides concerts, performances and installations, which introduce audiences to current developments in music, Rewire provides a platform for the development of new productions, collaborations and talent. In this way, Rewire aims to contribute to the visibility and development of adventurous music, but also to strengthen The Hague as a place for cutting-edge culture. The festival will take place from 9 to 12 April 2026. In addition, Rewire organises activities throughout the year, including an education programme and a concert series.

Manifestations 2026 - Stichting Art & Technology
Stichting Art & Technology organises the media-art festival Manifestations, a 10-day free festival during Dutch Design Week. In 2026, the festival centres on ‘MUTE’, which touches on silence, censorship and self-censorship. During this edition, the festival aims to expose how taboos, algorithms and political mechanisms determine what can and cannot be said. With some 50 works, mostly young makers show the encounters between humans and technology: sometimes playful, sometimes confrontational. The festival consists of three programmes: a public programme with installations and guided tours, a programme for makers with coaching and awards, and the ‘Buiten de Bubbel’ (Outside the Bubble) programme with workshops and activities for target groups who do not naturally come into contact with arts and culture.

InScience Beyond 2026 - InScience International Science Film Festival
InScience International Science Film Festival is a science-film festival at the intersection of innovation, technology and the world of tomorrow. The 11th edition will take place from 3 to 8 March 2026 in Nijmegen. With InScience Beyond 2026, the festival programme is being extended to include immersive, interactive and expanded cinema. In doing so, the festival is responding to the growing cross-fertilisation between film, science and digital art. The Beyond programme includes six immersive-experience works and one Immersive Night, and is part of the InScience Academy with a programme trajectory for students and school pupils (Young Academy) and a trajectory for professionals (InVision).

Take a look at all the selected projects in the awarded grants archive.

numbers

Of the 31 applications taken into consideration, 21 are receiving grants. This brings the percentage of applications receiving grants to 68%. The total budget of €1,350,000 is divided between five different regions of the country and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. Ten applications from the West region were awarded a grant, three from North, three from East, two from South, two from the Caribbean and one from Central Netherlands.

follow-up

The Creative Industries Festivals Grant Scheme 2025-2028 will have one application round in 2026. This is for festivals in 2027. You can apply between 25 August 2026 at 15:00 CEST, and 23 September 2026 at 16:00 CEST. Would you like to submit an application in this round? Take a look at the subsidy page of the grant scheme to prepare effectively.

Top image: Wan/orde - Stichting Great Wide Open