Grants for Culture
The City of Oulu's Educational and Cultural Services support arts and culture operators, as well as art professionals and their work groups, with grants.
Annual Grants
Aid for association and communities activities, 1.–17.9.2026 until 15.30
The aid for association activities is meant for goal-oriented and established culture activities of professionals or professionally led art/culture activities. The city of Oulu’s support covers a significant portion of the activity aid, and the applicant must have other regular funding or own profits. The activity must be easily accessible to the public and participants.
Application period for 2027 cultural grants is open September 1–17, until 15.30. Apply for aid via the eAsionti service (finnish).
You can get help with filling out the electronic application form from Oulu10 customer service by phone at +358 8 558 558 00, by email at oulu10@ouka.fi, or in person at service points.
Questions regarding the content and criteria of the application will be answered by the experts responsible for the grants.
Further information
Project aid, 1.–17.9.2026 until 15.30
Project aid for professionals
Art and culture professionals as well as work groups, associations and communities consisting of art and culture professionals can apply for project aid. Aid can be granted for the production costs, materials and the working costs of projects.
Project aid for hobbyists
Project aid for hobbyists are intended for associations, communities, and working groups for organizing non-profit art and cultural events and other cultural activities in Oulu. Hobbyists in the arts and culture can apply for these grants.
Application period for 2027 cultural grants is open September 1–17, until 15.30. Apply for aid via the eAsionti service (finnish).
You can get help with filling out the electronic application form from Oulu10 customer service by phone at +358 8 558 558 00, by email at oulu10@ouka.fi, or in person at service points.
Questions regarding the content and criteria of the application will be answered by the experts responsible for the grants.
Further information
Aid for workplace for professionals, 1.–17.9.2026 until 15.30
Discretionary workplace aid is ment for art professionals and the work groups consisting of art professionals. A condition for aid granting is a year’s work plan for the aid and a rental agreement. The maximum annual amount of support is 2000 € per year. The workspace must be separate from the applicant's home or yard and specifically rented for the purpose of creating art. Workplace aid cannot be granted for space rented from the applicant or their close circle.
Application period for 2027 cultural grants is open September 1–17, until 15.30. Apply for aid via the eAsionti service (finnish).
You can get help with filling out the electronic application form from Oulu10 customer service by phone at +358 8 558 558 00, by email at oulu10@ouka.fi, or in person at service points.
Questions regarding the content and criteria of the application will be answered by the experts responsible for the grants.
Further information
Small grants for Event Organizers
The City of Oulu’s Cultural Services provides annual smaller subsidies to support cultural event organizers in Oulu.
Small grants are meant for the organization of small culture events in Oulu. The maximum amount of small grants for culture events is 500 €. The event must be non-recurring and must consider accessibility, sustainability, and equality perspectives. The application must state the event date and location, as well as whether the event is subject to a charge or not.
Small grants are not used to support gigs in restaurants, courses, guided activities, or exhibitions.
The general principles for admitting a small subsidy. The grants are primarily applied for through eAsiointi service (in Finnish).
NOTE! Small subsidy applications are not processed in July.
Event Cooperation with the City, submitted all year round
Event Cooperation is intended to support events held in Oulu that are internationally or nationally appealing and distinctive. The support is discretionary in nature. Companies, associations, and communities organizing events in Oulu can apply for event collaboration throughout the year.
Oulu Valistustalo Fund Grants, application 2.2.–26.2.2026 until 15.30
Oulu Valistustalo fund grants
The fund administered by the City of Oulu Education and Cultural Services supports culture in Oulu by providing grants. The annual application period for Valistustalo fund grants is in spring.
Application period for Oulu Valistustalo fund grants open 2.2.–26.2.2026 until 15.30
The fund administered by the city of Oulu Education and Cultural Services supports culture in Oulu by providing grants. Grants can be awarded to individuals and communities operating in various fields of art and culture. The application period for Oulu Valistustalo fund grants started on 2.2.2026.
The application period for Oulu Valistustalo fund grants is 2.2.–26.2.2026 until 15.30. The total amount of funding to be granted is 175 000 €.
The grants support, for example, artistic work and production costs, the initial development of productions or works, such as script writing and the development of an idea or concept. The grants can also support the travel expenses of an individual or work group for international networking, performance or exhibition.
The applications are evaluated by a group of experts, and based on their overall evaluation, the final decision will be made by the director of education and culture.
Grants support
- artistic work
- production costs
- early-stage developing of productions or pieces of work, e.g. script writing or developing ideas and concepts
- international networking of a private person or a working group, travel costs of performing or exhibitions
Grants are not admitted for
- leisure and camp activities
- investments
- projects that already enjoy city aid
The applications are evaluated by a group of experts. The final admission decision will be made by the director of education and culture. Previous admission decisions can be examined from the links provided on this page.
Evaluation criteria
1. Quality of the application
2. Convincingness of the application
3. Budget evaluation and funding plan of the application (other than early-stage)
The applicants' other possible grants are taken into account as well.
Oulu Valistustalo fund grants were applicable between 6 March and 31 March 2023. 173 grant applications were received during the application period. A total of 75000 euros will be granted in year 2023.
More information
Current news about grants for culture
Application period for 2027 cultural grants is open September 1–17, until 15.30
The Education and Cultural Services of the city of Oulu support art and culture operators, art professionals and their work groups with grants.
The categories of cultural grants are Aid for association and community activities, Project aid, and Aid for workplaces for professionals.
A proposal for grant recipients will be prepared by a group of the city’s culture specialists. The selections are guided by the granting principles approved by the Well-being, Culture and Sports Committee. Some changes and specifications have been made to the criteria. Applicants should read the instructions closely. The Culture Director will make the final selection of grant recipients in December–January.
The 2027 discretionary art and culture grant application period opens on September 1, 2026. Grant applications are sent via the eAsionti service (finnish).
If you need help with the online application form, you may contact Oulu10 Customer Service by phone tel. 08 558 558 00, by e-mail oulu10@ouka.fi, or at any Oulu10 Service Point.
The responsible specialists will answer questions regarding the contents of the application and the granting criteria.
Further information:
Mari Aholainen, Head of Cultural Services, tel. 044 703 7510, mari.aholainen@ouka.fi
Leena Pälli, Senior Specialist, tel. 044 703 7210, leena.palli@ouka.fi
Application period for Oulu Valistustalo fund grants open 2.2.–26.2.2026 until 15.30
The fund administered by the city of Oulu Education and Cultural Services supports culture in Oulu by providing grants. Grants can be awarded to individuals and communities operating in various fields of art and culture. The application period for Oulu Valistustalo fund grants started on 2.2.2026.
The application period for Oulu Valistustalo fund grants is 2.2.–26.2.2026 until 15.30. The total amount of funding to be granted is 175 000 €.
The grants support, for example, artistic work and production costs, the initial development of productions or works, such as script writing and the development of an idea or concept. The grants can also support the travel expenses of an individual or work group for international networking, performance or exhibition.
The applications are evaluated by a group of experts, and based on their overall evaluation, the final decision will be made by the director of education and culture.
Application period for 2026 Cultural Grants are open on October 9–30 until 15.30.
The Education and Cultural Services of the city of Oulu support art and culture operators, art professionals and their work groups with grants.
The 2026 Cultural Grants can be applied for starting from October 9. The grants are primarily applied for through the eAsiointi service (only in Finnish).
The categories of cultural are Aid for association and community activities, Project aid and Aid for workplaces for professionals.
The applications are evaluated by a group of experts, and based on their overall evaluation. The selection is guided by the grant principles approved by the Wellbeing, Culture and Sport Council. Some changes have been made to the grant criteria.
The grants are primarily applied for through eAsiointi service (in Finnish). If needed, you can request help from Oulu10 services by email: oulu10@ouka.fi
Further information:
Mari Aholainen, Head of General Cultural Services
Questions regarding the content and criteria of the application will be answered by the experts responsible for the grants.
2026 Cultural Grant Applications via the eAsionti Service
All cultural grant application forms can be found on the eAsionti service (also in English). If needed, you can request help from Oulu10 services by email: oulu10@ouka.fi
You must log in to the service with bank authorization, mobile certificate or card certificate. You must register to the service when you use it for the first time.
When using the service on behalf of a business, association or other person, you must also have a granted Suomi.fi mandate. You must be mandated to send grant applications (“Avustushakemuksen tekeminen”). General authority to sign documents is also sufficient.
Request Suomi.fi mandates here. The link will open in a new window.
The eAsionti service monitors time-outs of authorizations and mandates. Thus, the form should be filled in from start to finish seamlessly. The cloud service can process some information slowly while you are filling in the application, but it will continue eventually. If the application freezes completely, you should try with another web browser. It is possible to save the application as a draft and continue filling it in later.
Culture Partners have been chosen for the 2025–2027 season
The city of Oulu’s Culture Services has signed temporary contracts with professional communities working in the culture field since 2006. Culture partners receive support for their activities and produce cultural content and events for all citizens of Oulu and the residents of nearby regions.
Contracts reinforce the long-term development work of culture operators and their cooperation with the city of Oulu. Culture partners form a wide network of specialists which has a significant role in the city’s art and culture activities. The culture partners play a significant role in the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture year’s implementation and designing and launching the year’s inheritance work during the coming partnership period.
For the contract period 2025–2027, there are 14 partner communities in different fields of art who have been chosen with open applications. See the chosen culture partners on the Culture Services’ website.