Now entering into its tenth year, the 2025/26 Stratford Destination Development Fund (DDF) will prioritize impactful and innovative destination development projects in Stratford with an emphasis on initiatives that are year-round or occur during the shoulder and winter seasons.
The Stratford Destination Development Fund was established with investment from Regional Tourism Organization 4 (RT04), Downtown Stratford BIA and Destination Stratford to enable and support experiential projects that are highly shareable and have high impact on the destination. The selected projects directly align with Stratford’s cultural DNA and will strengthen the experiences and storytelling opportunities for both residents and visitors.
The successful 2025 applications and projects include:
- Stratford Arts and Culture Collective – A Stratford Christmas 2025
- The Boathouse Stratford – Avon After Dark
- Stratford Winterfest – Stratford Winterfest 2026
- Stratford Film Festival – Film Festival & Monthly Film Series
- Stratford Concert Choir – The Big Sing Thing: The Music of The Beatles
- Stratford Summer Music – “Off-Season” Programming
- Stratford Perth Museum – Creatures of Light
- DigiWriting, Blue Moon Publishers and Heidi Sander – Poetic Art on the Move
The goals of the Stratford DDF include:
- Increase the number of high-quality visitor-focused experiences during the shoulder and winter seasons (may also include creative displays during Lights On Stratford).
- Provide opportunities for destination storytelling and visitor generated content creation.
- Strengthen the network of destination stakeholders taking an active role in our tourism future.
Organizations eligible for funding include:
- Tourism enterprises and businesses (as individual organizations or as a consortium) with interests in arts & culture, heritage, agri-culinary, sports, meetings & conventions, etc.
- Festivals and Events.
- For-profit or non-profit organizations.
Applicants can apply for a range of support for new tourism-related experiences, enhancements to existing tourism-related experiences (in-person or digital, projects that improve the visitor experience), and/or storytelling (capturing of content – photo/video and/or social media).
Individual applications can apply for funding from $500 to $10,000. Applicants are welcome to submit multiple applications for different projects.
Applications are closed. Check back for future opportunities.
In addition to DDF, other programs that may be of interest to applicants are:
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