British Council — Connections Through Culture Grants 2026

Connections Through Culture funds partnerships rather than individual careers. To apply you need at least one partner legally based in the UK and at least one in an eligible participating country — the 2026 list runs from Argentina, Colombia and Peru to Ukraine, Vietnam, Nigeria, Thailand and the Western Balkans — and both must remain based there throughout the project.

Music is one of seven eligible art forms. What the grant pays for is collaborative work between the partners: co-creation and artistic development, residencies and exchanges, research and development, workshops and talks, joint performances or showcases, digital work, and capacity building.

The ceiling depends on the country involved rather than the scale of your idea. It is up to GBP 15,000 for partnerships with Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Pakistan, Peru or Saudi Arabia, GBP 10,000 for a large middle band including Turkey, Ukraine and the Western Balkans, and as little as GBP 5,000 for Australia, New Zealand and Tanzania. That figure has to cover the whole partnership, both sides, not each partner separately.

Applications run through the Good Grants platform and close at 23:59 BST on 12 August 2026. You will need a Partnership Letter of Intent signed by every partner — the British Council provides the template — and should work through the Applicant Guidance Toolkit, which carries the full eligibility rules and the assessment criteria; the main page summarises rather than lists them.

Decisions go out from October 2026. Funded activity must take place between December 2026 and December 2027, and nothing can be spent before a grant agreement is signed.