BD is LiT guidance
Name of fund
BD:is LiT commission call out
Summary
City Of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, in partnership with Bradford 2025, is to fund the creation of incredible new light art projects and installations to take place in the City centre as of the BD:is LiT programme in 2025.
The official theme is the Colour of Light and we are keen to see proposals which explore colour in nature.
What we cannot fund
- Repeat activity – your idea must be new
- Activities not related to light art or the commission brief
- Activities with insufficient planning time
- Ongoing overheads relating to equipment or buildings, such as salaries, insurance, building
repairs and maintenance costs ONLY costs related to the project. - Activity taking place outside Bradford District (we do want to support activity to tour outside the district but we can only fund elements of the project related to Bradford delivery)
- Activity that promotes party political or religious views
Who can apply?
- This call out is open to artists, creatives and organisations who live and/or work in Bradford
- Individuals who are professional artists or creatives
- Arts, cultural and heritage organisations
- Community or voluntary groups (applications will require participation of professional artists or creatives, defined as an individual whose primary income is made through their creative practice)
- Groups of organisations (one group or individual will need to take the lead and have the main responsibility for managing the application and being accountable for any grant given)
- Bradford Council strategic funded organisations and Regular Funded Organisations can apply to this fund
Who cannot apply?
- Educational establishments (schools, colleges, universities)
- Commercial for-profit projects
Key dates and deadlines
Application deadline: Tuesday 26 August 2025, 9:00am
Notification date: Friday 5 September 2025
BD:Is LiT Festival: Friday 7 and Saturday 8 November 2025
What amounts can we apply for?
Between £5,000 and a maximum of £7,500
How much funding is available?
There is a total of £22,500.
When must the activity take place?
Your activity must take place between September and November 2025, presenting the work at BD: is LiT
Festival Dates – 7 and 8 November 2025. Please note, successful applicants who do not deliver their project on time will be at risk of claw back of the fund.
Match funding
Applications do not require match funding however we do encourage applicants to consider ways of utilising this funding to attract additional investment, increase the works reach and develop partnerships.
What is the decision-making process?
Applications will be assessed by team members from City of Bradford Metropolitan Council and Bradford2025.
We will balance applications to ensure that there is a spread of investment across the district, diversity in the awards and a good range of activity that reflects the need and requirements of the festival programme.
Balancing means that you may make a strong application but may not be successful at a particular moment in time.
Can we discuss our applications with you?
Unfortunately, we are unable to discuss applications with applicants however, if we receive a series of questions, we will update our guidance document and advertise this update via social channels.
Do I need to have a confirmed location?
We anticipate that applicants will have specific locations or types of locations for the pieces of light art. However, applicants demonstrating understanding of locations and presenting styles, may score higher in the planning element of the application.