Funders, partners and memberships

Funders 2021

The funding environment has bever been harder than during the pandemic. National agencies have had to make gruelling decisions, under difficult conditions, with limited resources. We are extremely grateful for the support we have received from grant providers and especially thankful to those who have sustained funding throughout. Thank you and may the road ahead get easier!

  • Arts Council England
  • Culture Liverpool
  • Emigrant Support Programme
  • HM Government’s Here for Culture
  • Liverpool City Council
  • National Lottery Heritage Fund

Sponsor 2021

Tourism Ireland

Partner organisations 2021

  • #2021LiverpoolWrites
  • #IamIrish
  • An tUltach
  • Armagh Rhymers
  • Art Arcadia
  • ArtsGroupie
  • Baobab Foundation
  • Bluecoat
  • Bluecoat Display Centre
  • Bolger-Cunningham School of Irish Dancing
  • Campanile Hotel
  • Central Library
  • Cocoons
  • Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Eireann
  • Creative Community Fund
  • Creative Organisations of Liverpool
  • Culture Liverpool
  • Department of English, University of Liverpool
  • Design and Craft Council of Ireland
  • District
  • Gael Linn
  • George Ferguson Scoil Rince
  • Glas Creative
  • Glasswerk
  • Grand Central Hall
  • Hope Street Hotel
  • Immigration Advice Service
  • IndieCork
  • Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool
  • Ireland Reaching Out
  • Irish Community Care
  • Irish Film London
  • Irish In Britain
  • Knowsley Council
  • Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre
  • Liverpool Biennial
  • Liverpool City Council
  • Liverpool Irish Centre
  • Liverpool Medical Institution
  • Liverpool Philharmonic
  • Liverpool Royal Court
  • Liverpool Town Hall
  • March for the Arts
  • Mellowtone
  • Merseytravel
  • Museum of Liverpool
  • My First Focail
  • National Lottery Heritage Fund
  • National Museums Liverpool
  • National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway
  • Nonconform
  • Pagoda Arts Chinese Community Centre
  • Peter Kavanagh’s
  • Philharmonic Dining Rooms
  • Radio City
  • Sefton Park Palm House
  • St Brigid’s Day
  • St George’s Hall
  • St Helen’s Borough Council (Greystone Footbridge)
  • St John’s Beacon
  • St Luke’s Bombed Out Church
  • The Blackstaff Press
  • The Irish History Podcast
  • The Liverpool Literacy Agency
  • The Pride of Sefton
  • The Reader
  • The Sound Agents
  • The Sovini Group
  • UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre
  • Unemployable Promotions
  • University of Liverpool
  • We’re Good to Go
  • Wirral (Wallasey Town Hall)
  • Writing on the Wall

Memberships

*The Festival recently became a member of Baobab, a new foundation that seeks to do things differently by being led by the communities they intend to serve.

Following the #BlackLivesMatter demonstrations and the disproportionate deaths to Covid19, the Baobab Foundation was born with a desire to bring about real change to Black, ethnic minority people and other communities faced with racial injustice.

By bringing together and centering the voices of Black people and other communities facing racial injustice, we’re able to create an accountable, transparent, and collaborative body (The Baobab Foundation) that’ll be able to distribute funds to those often left out or excluded. If you’d be interested in learning more about Baobab here’s a one pager of how you can be involved and you can also sign up to become a member (free) here.

^ Irish service provision in Liverpool

We work closely with a number of the CARA members, who are -in essence Irish service providers in Liverpool. To provide a little guidance on what they do, we shave a short breakdown below – please note, these don’t account for all the CARA members, but those with whom we frequently work and/or partner:

  • Irish Community Care – legal and welfare relief for anyone self-identifying as Irish, Irish Traveller or of Irish Heritage
  • Liverpool Irish Centre spiritual home of the Irish in Liverpool, taking an all-Ireland approach, providing a social centre and offices for additional Irish services, which run their social activities from there. There is a rolling programme of commercial events and social activities, which help to support the Irish Centre. There are occasional cross-overs with Festival work and, where it is feasible, we try to make them coincide
  • Slainte Le Cheile provides additional health and connectivity services for older or vulnerable Irish people in Liverpool
  • The Institute of Irish Studies at University of Liverpool provides a recognised University/higher education in Irish Studies and Irish culture (literature, playwriting, etc). Taking an academic stance, there are occasions when arts and culture outputs will cross-over with the Liverpool Irish Festival; where we can we try to ensure collaboration, such as with Whose History? 2600 in 2021 and the Great Famine Voices Roadshow in 2020.

Compared to the above, Liverpool Irish Festival is a 10-day celebration of all Irish creativity and culture, for everyone, but likely to be of particular interest to those with an Irish heritage. Our aim is to bring Liverpool and Ireland closer together using arts and culture, which we try to do by helping to generate, import and export work, creating international relations and supporting Irish creativity at home (hence our Cultural Connectedness Exchange).

Alliances

Liverpool Irish Festival signed its commitment to March for the Arts: Working Guidance for Arts Freelancers and Organisations, to which we anticipate being held accountable.

This is a best practice guide for contracting and paying for work in the arts.

You can read the Working Guidance here.