ARPA Community Events Grant Program

Mayor Steve Noble is pleased to announce the launch of the City of Kingston's ARPA 2023 Community Events Grant Program, which is made possible with funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

The City has allocated $375,000 of its ARPA award to fund this initiative as part of our pandemic Economic Recovery Plan. The program will respond to the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency by focusing on the needs of non-profit groups and businesses that plan to host free community events in 2023.

Funding is available for events taking place throughout 2023 (February through the end of December).

Nonprofit groups and businesses located within City limits are eligible to apply for up to five 2023 events at up to $5,000 per event — for a maximum total of $25,000 per organization. Events must be free and open to the public and either have previously been established as an annual event prior to 2020 — or if new, not duplicate other organizations' existing events and focus primarily on youth and families as the target audience. Overall preference will be shown to applications for events that focus primarily on youth and families as well as those that draw audiences from diverse backgrounds.

Funding is available for events taking place throughout 2023 (February through the end of December). Grant applications will be accepted on a rolling basis from Friday, February 3, 2023 through Friday, November 1, 2023. The last eligible event date is December 31, 2023.

For additional information about eligible expenses, application instructions and other topics, please take a look at the guidelines to the right. The grant application and other documents are also located there and can be downloaded for your use.

Thanks to you, we look forward to a festive year filled with great community gatherings across the City — and we'd like to help — please apply for a Community Events Grant today!