Perform Europe €1.4 Million Funding Scholarship for Performing Arts Partnerships
Perform Europe has officially launched its 2026 open call, offering €1.4 million in funding for performing arts partnerships across the 41 Creative Europe countries. The scheme is now inviting performing arts organisations, artists, producers, presenters, cultural operators, and professional collectives to submit bold collaboration proposals that rethink how artistic work travels across borders.
This is not a standard “take a show abroad” grant. Perform Europe is looking for partnerships that can challenge the old touring model and replace it with something fairer, greener, more inclusive, and more useful for the performing arts sector.
For applicants working in theatre, dance, circus, puppetry, outdoor arts, performance, interdisciplinary work, and related fields, this call is a serious funding opportunity — especially for those with a finished artistic work or ready-to-present artistic concept that can move across multiple European contexts.
The Funding Reveal: Up to €60,000 Available Per Partnership
Perform Europe will distribute €1.4 million to at least 25 selected partnerships. Applicants can apply under three main grant categories:
Small Grant: €15,000
Medium Grant: €25,000
Large Grant: €55,000
Partnerships may also request additional top-up funding for sustainability and accessibility needs. These top-ups can be combined up to a maximum of €5,000 per proposal.
This means the maximum possible funding package for one partnership is €60,000, including the main grant and top-ups.
An important allocation has also been built into the scheme: 5% of the total funding will support proposals involving Ukrainian partners or initiatives connected to the Ukrainian performing arts sector.
What Perform Europe Actually Wants to Fund?
The call is built around two major priorities:
Inclusion and Diversity
Fight Against Climate Change
Every proposal must choose one of these as its main focus. However, applicants cannot ignore the other priority completely. A project focused mainly on inclusion, for example, should still consider environmental responsibility. Likewise, a climate-focused project should still show awareness of access, diversity, and fairness.
This is where the opportunity becomes more strategic. Perform Europe is not simply asking applicants to move performances from one country to another. It wants partnerships that can show how cross-border mobility in the performing arts can become more ethical, more accessible, more climate-conscious, and more regionally connected.
Projects should also demonstrate quality, innovation, fair working practices, and meaningful collaboration across different parts of the Creative Europe network.
Eligible Fields and Artistic Areas
This call is open to the performing arts sector, including:
- Theatre
- Dance
- Performance
- Circus
- Outdoor arts
- Puppetry
- Interdisciplinary performing arts projects
However, there is one key exclusion: live music and opera are not covered under this call. Each proposal must include at least one performing arts work that will be presented in at least three different Creative Europe countries.
Applicants should also note that Perform Europe will not fund production costs for brand-new creations. The proposal must be based on either a completed artistic work or an artistic concept that is already ready to be adapted, presented, and shared in different contexts.
Who Can Apply?
Perform Europe is open to organisations and professionals working in the performing arts who are legally based in one of the 41 Creative Europe countries.
These include the 27 EU member states and 14 non-EU countries participating in Creative Europe. Applications must be submitted by partnerships, not by a single applicant working alone.
Application Timeline
The Perform Europe open call was launched on 23 June 2026. The last date to apply for the Perform Europe Open Call 2026 is Thursday, 22 October 2026 at 23:59 CEST.
Selected partnerships are expected to be announced in January 2027. Partnership projects will begin on 1 March 2027 and must end by 31 January 2028.