Bank of Ideas.

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Do you have an idea for something creative you’d like to make happen in your local area? You could start with an interest you’d like to share, something you’d like to change with the help of your neighbours, a way of bringing people together.

What creative ideas could you make happen with (up to) £2,500?

Individuals and groups can submit their creative idea for funding and the people of Belfast will decide which projects they’d like to fund at a voting event.

This year, ideas should align with the Fleadh Cheoil(External link) theme of ‘Celebrating Together’. Fleadh Cheoil is the world’s biggest celebration of Irish music and culture, which comes to Belfast from Sunday 2 August to Sunday 9 August 2026.

Projects will have the opportunity to be part of the celebrations for the Fleadh. There’s lots more information on this page and in our guidance section.

What do we mean by the theme ‘Celebrating Together’?

Celebrating Together is the tag line for this year’s Fleadh Cheoil. As this exciting festival comes to our city, we’re taking the opportunity to celebrate and show off the rich range of cultures and diverse communities that Belfast is home to.

For Bank of Ideas, we’re open to any creative idea, so long as it is being shared with people and celebrated together. You don’t have to involve big crowds of people; in fact we want to support things happening on local levels.

Your idea might be:

• a form of creativity you want to share with people
• a way of bringing people together
• a moment of pride for your neighbourhood
• an offering for people to learn something new

We’d love to see ideas that you feel represent Belfast – perhaps a treasure of the city’s heritage, a warm welcome from your area or an ambition for its future.

Your idea can take place in the run-up to the Fleadh, during the week of the festival or any time before the end of September 2026.

Belfast Stories

Belfast Stories is a public space, visitor attraction and creative hub, set to open in 2030 at the former Bank of Ireland building and surrounding site.

At the heart of this ambitious project is a love for Belfast, its people and their stories.

The plans for Belfast Stories are still in development and the team want to connect with community-based ideas that share a common purpose.

Belfast Stories is keen to support creative ideas through the Bank of Ideas that help people to:

• Share their stories with each other
• Create new stories for the city
• Give people space to gather and connect

Ideas that connect with this purpose will form a Stories Branch of the Bank of Ideas.

Ideas that are awarded through the Bank of Ideas public vote and that share this common purpose will be invited to join the Stories Branch when their funding is awarded, after being reviewed by the Belfast Stories team.

These projects will be brought together in a network to share learning with each other and to shape the plans for Belfast Stories. For more info visit the Belfast Stories website – https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/belfaststories(External link)

Criteria

Your project should be:

• safe
• legal
• not for profit
• feasible within the timeframe and budget
• a creative idea that aligns with the theme ‘Celebrating Together’
• an activity in the Belfast City Council area
• showcased at the Celebration Event in October 2026
• different to any Bank of Ideas funded-event that you’ve done before

For any questions or help to complete this form please you can contact the team either by email [email protected](External link), by phone on 028 9032 0202 Ext 3535 or come along to one of our Idea Generating and Info Events and a member of the team will be happy to help.

If you are d/Deaf, disabled, or neurodiverse and would like support with this form, contact University of Atypical: Phone: 028 9023 9450 or Email: [email protected]

https://yoursay.belfastcity.gov.uk/bank-of-ideas-2026