CQAF Music Bursary 2027: 20 Northern Ireland Musicians and Bands to Receive £1,000 for New Recordings

The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (CQAF), working with Belfast City Council and the Music Matters strategy, has opened applications for its 2026/27 Music Bursary programme. Twenty established or emerging solo musicians and bands based in Northern Ireland can each receive a £1,000 bursary to help make new music. The funding is intended for composition, recording and connected costs such as studio work, production, mixing, artwork and release promotion. The programme welcomes musicians at different career stages, rather than only newly formed acts or music students. Before applying, note an important inconsistency in the published closing dates: CQAF's own application page lists 30 October 2026 at 5pm, while Belfast City Council lists 29 October at 5pm. Sending everything by 29 October is the safer choice until the organisers clarify the discrepancy.

Funding overview: 20 awards of £1,000 each

The official CQAF application notice specifies 20 Music Bursaries, each worth one thousand pounds. The amount should not be confused with a £20,000 grant for a single recipient: £20,000 is the combined value of all twenty awards. The fund exists to help Northern Ireland artists create and record a new piece of music, giving practical support to artists who need help covering real production expenses. It is a competitive selection, not an automatic payment to everyone who completes a submission.

The bursary is framed around new composition and/or recording, rather than a festival ticket prize or an ordinary paid stage booking. Applicants should make a clear connection between the proposed expenditure and music that will be written, recorded or prepared for a release. The organisers expressly allow parts of a release campaign to be included in the £1,000 budget. This flexibility matters to musicians who can self-produce much of their music but need help with one external professional service or the release's visual presentation.

Eligibility: musicians and bands based in Northern Ireland

Both CQAF and Belfast City Council define the applicant group as Northern Ireland-based musicians and bands, whether emerging or established. This is a regional funding scheme, not a programme open worldwide simply because an email address is supplied. An act based outside Northern Ireland should not assume that having played in Belfast previously is enough to satisfy the local requirement. If band members live in different places or work across borders, it is sensible to ask the organiser how the band's base is assessed before applying.

The official call does not set out a specific maximum age, a requirement to be represented by a record label, an obligatory music-qualification level or a list of permissible genres on its public page. Therefore, it would be wrong to invent an under-25 rule or to describe the bursaries as exclusively for traditional folk, classical, rock or electronic music. A local singer-songwriter, independent pop band, instrumental act or experimental recording artist can read the same basic criteria and decide whether the music project fits the purpose.

A clear date discrepancy: CQAF says 30 October, Council says 29 October

CQAF's live 'Creative Bursaries 2026/27' page states a deadline of 5.00pm Friday 30 October 2026. Belfast City Council's live Culture Funding page states 5pm on 29 October, while labelling that date 'Friday'. The calendar weekday for 29 October 2026 is Thursday; 30 October is Friday. Because these are two official partners describing the same call and the public announcements do not agree, applicants should not treat the later date as guaranteed. Submitting no later than 5pm on 29 October, preferably earlier, avoids depending on this discrepancy. Candidates who need certainty can contact the CQAF office before the final week.

The organisers also state that submissions will be judged by 20 November 2026 and that applicants should receive notification by 26 November. The weekday attached to the notification date on the CQAF page appears inconsistent with the 2026 calendar; use the calendar date and any confirmation emailed by the festival rather than making travel, purchasing or release commitments based on an assumed weekday.

Exactly one submission email is required

CQAF asks each applicant to send one email containing all the application material together. The destination is cqartsfestival@gmail.com and the subject line must follow the format '2027 Creative Bursary Application – [Your Name]', substituting the artist's actual name. The announcement warns that incomplete applications or documents scattered across multiple emails might not be considered. This is a direct email application: a news aggregator's contact form or an unrelated ticket-booking page is not a substitute.

Required attachment: one PDF explaining the practice and £1,000 budget

The email must contain ONE PDF covering an overview of the applicant's creative practice and a budget outline with a full breakdown of the £1,000. The overview should tell reviewers about the musician's existing work, interests and current project. The budget should show exactly how the requested sum will be spent, rather than offering a single vague line such as 'recording expenses'. A clear project description can help the panel understand how the bursary would change the project's outcome.

For example, a band could explain the intended new recording and divide a £1,000 budget among recording-room hire, a mixing engineer and cover artwork. A solo musician might propose composition and session-musician expenses followed by mastering. These examples illustrate the types of costs listed by CQAF; they do not guarantee that every individual invoice will be approved. The total must still fit the financial requirements in the current bursary notice.

Music samples: MP3s or working links

Alongside the PDF, artists should provide examples of previous work. CQAF accepts audio attachments, with MP3 preferred, or website links to music, video or a portfolio. An applicant does not have to invent an expensive promotional reel when clear audio already demonstrates the musical practice. However, the links should work without a secret login and identify the relevant artist. In particular, a band with several members should check that the material makes clear the identity and musical contribution of the act seeking the award.

There is no indication on the current CQAF notice of a specific requirement to provide a professional mastering certificate, a completed new track at the time of application or a paid festival performance history. The fund is precisely intended to support creating new work. Artists should distinguish recordings offered as evidence of ability from the proposed work whose composition or recording the bursary would finance.

Eligible recording costs: studio, production, mixing and mastering

The organiser gives studio hire, engineering services, mixing, mastering and session-musician fees as examples of expenditure connected directly to making the new music. This is relevant to both fully studio-based acts and artists who record at home but want to commission specialist help for a professional release. A complete proposal might describe the intended sound, approximate production period and external collaborators, showing that the quoted amounts are realistic for a £1,000 grant.

Promotion and release assets are also named in the guidelines

CQAF explicitly includes campaign support and asset creation among eligible categories. Its examples cover video production, photography, artwork design, manufacturing and distribution, public relations, marketing and merchandise. The important qualification is that these costs serve the music project and should appear in the budget. Applicants should not assume that a general brand overhaul, unrelated photography job or ongoing office overhead is eligible without making an identifiable link to the proposed new recording.

The distinction between a creation fund and a general business grant is important. The project description should centre on an actual musical output, not solely the ambition to expand social media followings or purchase equipment for an unrelated enterprise. The current public call does not describe a guaranteed advance or an automatic copyright transfer, and those conditions should not be invented; award agreements and any publicity arrangements are matters for the organiser to confirm with selected musicians.

How emerging and established artists can frame the project

An emerging group may benefit from explaining why making its first properly finished recording is the next realistic step after local rehearsals and performances. A more established Northern Ireland act can identify a new artistic direction or production technique for which an additional £1,000 would make a measurable difference. Either applicant should describe its work clearly, avoid claims of invented awards or listener numbers and attach music that genuinely demonstrates the kind of creativity the panel is being asked to support.

For bands, agreeing how the £1,000 would be spent and who manages the application before submitting can avoid confusion if funding is offered. The website does not specify how many members may appear in the applicant name or whether a band can submit more than one distinct application; do not assume the answer based on other Belfast grant schemes. Contact CQAF in advance for specific organisational or rights questions.

Checklist before sending the email

Check that the musician or group is genuinely based in Northern Ireland, that the plan involves composing or recording new music, and that the application email includes all required materials at once. Prepare one PDF containing the creative overview, a concise project explanation and a transparent breakdown totalling £1,000. Provide music evidence as a sensible MP3 attachment or accessible audio/video links. Use the correct subject-line format and send from an address that you check regularly. Most importantly, allow for the earlier of the two published closing dates.

Official sources and how to apply

Information reviewed 17 October 2026 from the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival's original 2026/27 application page and Belfast City Council's Culture Funding information. CQAF specifies twenty £1,000 bursaries and one-email submission to cqartsfestival@gmail.com. Because the two official sources conflict about the closing date, this independent article explicitly flags that fact instead of silently choosing one. The primary application instructions and any direct updated response from CQAF take precedence over editorial summaries.

Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival – official Creative Bursaries 2026/27 application requirements: https://cqaf.com/creative-bursaries-2026/

Belfast City Council – Culture funding, CQAF Music Bursary 2027 and contrasting deadline notice: https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/things-to-do/tourism-and-culture/culture/culture-funding