Please note that Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund (SERF) is not currently accepting applications.
Background on Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund
Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund (SERF) was established in conjunction with Scottish Government to help Scotland’s events sector plan and deliver events and to provide support as the industry responds and adapts to the effects of coronavirus (COVID-19).
About the Fund
A total of £2.75 million was made available in November 2020 to support the safe delivery of events in Scotland as we moved through coronavirus (COVID-19), in accordance with relevant Scottish Government legislation and guidance.
The fund, which is currently not accepting applications, was designed to support innovation by organisers in planning events, and applicants were encouraged to seek viable solutions, pilot new ideas and share best practice in their event plans.
This fund replaced EventScotland’s National and Beacon funding programmes on an interim basis. It has also integrated Scotland’s Winter Festivals and the Scottish Clans and Historical Figures Event Funds.
There were two routes to funding available:
- Community Events, and Events with existing EventScotland funding offers (awards of between £1,000 to £5,000)
- Events supporting the visitor economy e.g. regional and Scottish domestic tourism (awards of between £5,000 - £35,000)
Event categorisations eligible for support across existing funds included:
- Live, public facing events which welcome audiences in person to participate or spectate safely.
- Hybrid events which present a viable solution to the current situation. For the purpose of this fund, hybrid events are categorised as events that have both an in-person opportunity to attend and offer an online, virtual or digital opportunity to engage with the event.
- Digital/virtual events will be considered from existing events where there is an intention to return to a live event format to maintain audience engagement, as well as from new digital events which meet the Event Impacts criteria and promote Scotland to an online audience.