One of the most practical pots of support in the NI music calendar is back. The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival has reopened its Music Bursaries for 2026-27, with twenty awards of £1,000 each available to musicians and bands based here: £20,000 in total, aimed squarely at getting new music made.

Hosted in partnership with Belfast City Council and the Music Matters strategy – the council’s long-term plan to grow the city’s music economy and reputation as a UNESCO City of Music – the scheme exists to back the composition and recording of new work. It’s open to solo artists and bands alike, and crucially to both emerging names and established ones, which keeps the field genuinely wide.

That breadth shows in who’s come through it. Over the past three years the bursaries have gone to artists working across just about every corner of the scene – from Eve Belle, Conchur White and Gemma Bradley to Wynona Bleach, Conor Mallon, Róise, Rebecca Rua, Junk Drawer and Fun Protestants. Trad, indie, pop, electronic, alt and points in between: it’s a roll call that doubles as a snapshot of how much is happening in NI music right now.

What sets these bursaries apart is how flexibly the money can be used. The £1,000 is designed to cover the real costs of making and releasing a record, from studio hire, engineering, mixing, mastering and session musician fees through to the campaign that carries it – video, photography, artwork, manufacture and distribution, PR, marketing and merchandise. I

For a lot of independent artists, that gap between having the idea and being able to afford to realise it is exactly where things stall. A grant of this kind, with no strings beyond making the work, is a direct answer to that.

Applications are open now and close at 5pm on Friday, 29th October 2026, with all applicants notified by Friday, 26th November. Full details on how to apply are available here.