Giving Back

"What do you do with the money?"

That's the number one question we get asked here at Irish Fest HQ. Well, that and "can you get me some sponsor passes, dude?" Truth be told, for a couple years what we mostly did with the revenue that Irish Fest brought in was recover from 2003, when the first Kansas City Irish Fest was washed away in a foot of rain. Lots of the money we take in goes toward paying our bills. It's hugely expensive to put this shindig on every year. This year, for example we'll spend close to $100,000 on entertainment alone.

But the past few years have been good ones for us. We've been blessed with beautiful weather and big, enthusiastic crowds. We've recovered from the rainout and sponsorships increase annually. The community we serve has been good to us. Now it's our turn.

The Kansas City Irish Fest announces the formation of our Irish Fest Grant Fund. Beginning this summer, we'll be taking applications from individuals and 501-c3 organizations for cash grants to be used in the pursuit of Irish arts and education. Have you been itching to learn to coax a tune out of Granddad's old fiddle? Want to attend classes at that Irish cooking school in Ballymaloe? Have you been always dreamed of taking up Irish dance or studying your family's genealogy? That's exactly what the Irish Fest Grant was created for. Individuals will be eligible for grants up to $1500, and 501-c3s of up to $3500. Grant applications will be reviewed by a newly-formed Grant Advisory Board made up of people from within the Irish Fest family and the community at large. The application will be on the Grants page of our website this summer, and grants will be awarded in the fall after Irish Fest. There are some restrictions, of course. We won't give you a grant to pay the rent on your Irish vacation cottage, or to fund your personal pub tour. You're on your own for your "Irish Whiskey: Is It Really The 'Water Of Life'?" research project. But within some reasonable guidelines, the grants are there for you.

You've been good to us. Time for us to be good to you. If you have an Irish dream, we want to help make it come true.

Apply, this summer.